A New Life
by Brenna
Summary: Two that were lost have been found, but the road to their new life will not be easy.
1. Chapter 1

The inner ring of the ancient alien artifact began to spin deep inside Cheyenne Mountain surprising those on duty both in the embarkation room and in the control room above. No teams were scheduled to return for at least another eight days.

"Unexpected off-world activation! Security to the gate room! Medical teams to the gate room!" Simmons shouted into the PA microphone. "Duty officer report to the gate room!"

"I'm here, Simmons," Hammond said as he entered the room. "Do we have a signal yet?" 

"No, sir" he replied. "No signal."

"Close the iris," the general commanded. 

Something on his screen drew Simmon's attention before he could comply with General Hammond's order. "IDC signal coming in. It's the throw away, sir!" The throw away GDO had been installed on Cimmeria fourteen months ago. It was an idea Major Carter had presented to Colonel O'Neill after yet another close call for SG-1. 

A lock box had been hidden near the Stargate on Cimmeria. Inside the lockbox was a single GDO unit. This was a special unit though. It had no key pad as the normal GDO's had. This GDO had only one button that would send a pre-programmed code back only once before frying every circuit inside. It was also on a timer. Removing it from the box would start the countdown. Whoever removed it would then have five minutes to dial up Earth and press the button before it would change to a second code, one that wouldn't open the iris. The theory being that an attack would take time to stage after the lock box were opened. If the second code came through they would know not to open the iris and also that one of their people was probably in trouble.

Every member of the SG teams had been required to learn the code to open the lockbox. The lockbox itself wasn't ordinary either. It had been rigged to emit a high energy pulse if it were tampered with in any way, effectively destroying the programming in the GDO inside. O'Neill and his team had argued and Hammond had agreed that Thor's Hammer made the possibility of a system lord getting their hands on the GDO remote. Once the GDO had been used the code would be immediately purged from the computer. It was a risk to base security, but one Hammond had agreed was necessary as a last resort when a mission went bad. Ironically, the installation of the lockbox was one of the last assignments SG-1 had undertaken before their final mission to P93-2K3 just over fifteen ago.

"Open the iris and get extra security to the gate room," Hammond ordered as he noticed out of the corner of his eye Dr. Jackson and Teal'c enter the control room. "Don't get your hopes up," he warned the two men. 

"Who else could it be?" Daniel asked quietly. 

They watched as the metal shield retracted revealing the wall of liquid energy beneath. In the stillness the sound of a machine gun safety being flipped off ricocheted around the large vaulted room. Those in the gate room and above in the control room waited in absolute silence for something to appear through the Stargate. In the minds of some it could only be another attempt by the Goa'uld to destroy Earth, but in the hearts of many they hoped it was the return of missing comrades. Finally something did appear through the veil. If it weren't for the noise, they probably would have missed it as everyone watched the middle of the Stargate where a human face would normally appear. The noise of something hitting the ramp made everyone's gaze shift and more than a few people jump. Gasps and more than a few curses filled the room, but no one moved as the bloody hand grasped the grating on the ramp and pulled. Those waiting at the bottom of the ramp still didn't move. Some were too shocked, others obeyed their training and waited with weapons cocked and aimed. 

Jackson and Teal'c did move though. They were out of the control room instantly taking the stairs as quickly as they could. On this side of the wormhole there was now an equally bloody arm attached to the hand. The arm stretched out to grab the grating and pull it's owner forward once again as Daniel and Teal'c ran into the room only to be stopped by the SF's at the base of the ramp. The guard's grip relaxed suddenly though as a face appeared through the liquid blue energy. Daniel shouted "Sam!" as he pushed past the stunned guard with Teal'c on his heels. They were up the ramp in the blink of an eye. Daniel took her arm and began to pull. As soon as he did, he knew that he was pulling more than Sam's weight through the wormhole. She hadn't braced herself for the unexpected movement though and screamed in agony as Daniel pulled, but she forced herself to not let go. 

"Daniel!" she gasped trying to convey with his name alone her urgent need.

"Hold on to him, Sam" Daniel ordered her making a leap of faith about the extra weight he felt but could not see. "Just hang on to him. Let us do the rest. Help me, Teal'c" he said as he once again pulled. He and Teal'c pulled more carefully this time fearing that if they pulled too hard Sam would lose her grip on her burden. "Get the God damn medics in here," Daniel screamed as he looked down at the gray color of his friend's face.

With the next pull another head emerged from the event horizon. The salt and pepper hair alone hinting to them who it was they were pulling through the Stargate. The face was bruised and bloodied well beyond recognition. "O'Neill," Teal'c whispered as he grabbed the tattered shirt that emerged with their next careful tug and pulled trying to relieve Carter of her burden.

Daniel grabbed Sam beneath her arms and attempted to drag her the rest of the way through, but she would not release the still form of Jack O'Neill. "It's okay, Sam" Daniel told her as he pried her hand away from it's death grip on Jack O'Neill's still form. "Let Teal'c take him while I get you," he coaxed as he suited words to action and pulled her through. He misjudged the force he would need without the added weight of O'Neill and pulled harder than he'd intended causing Sam to cry out once more. 

Daniel heard the sound of several people running up the ramp to his location, but his focus was centered on Sam and the changes in her appearance. "Jack...not breathing," she gasped forcing the words out past the agony coursing through her. "Daniel," she moaned placing something into his hand. Daniel looked numbly down at his hand and realized Sam had given him the notebook she'd been carrying the day she and Jack had fallen into the hands of the Goa'uld. 

"Ok, Sam" Janet said as she knelt on the ramp beside her friend as Dr. Williams tended to O'Neill a few feet away. Her gloved hands were quickly assessing Sam's condition. "Daniel, hold this in place," she ordered him as she placed a gauze dressing over the worst of Sam's bleeding wounds. Even had her hand not been on Sam's belly, Janet would have been able to see the band of muscles clenching as Sam cried out. "Looks like this baby is coming huh, sweetie?" Janet asked comfortingly before turning to one of the orderlies. "Where's the other stretcher?" she demanded. "We need to get them to surgery NOW or we're going to lose them."

"Janet," Sam whispered weakly.

"Hang in there, Sam. Just hold on," Janet urged her friend and patient. 

"Babies..." she whimpered. Her eyes refused to focus, but she turned her head in the general direction of Dr. Frasier. "Save the babies...please, Janet....take care of my babies," she begged.

"I will, Sam. You just keep fighting. Okay?" Janet assured her friend as she helped the orderly and Daniel lift Sam onto the gurney.

Daniel and Teal'c followed the mad rush of the medical personnel as they transported the still forms of their friends to the infirmary. Daniel was vaguely aware that as they moved through the corridors more and more people joined the procession. Finally as they reached the corridor outside the infirmary, Janet turned and ordered, "Wait out here." With that she left the entire group there in the corridor staring at each other in shocked helplessness. 


	2. Chapter 2

Outside the Kennedy Center several days later, Clayton Webb waited with the tall statuesque woman who was his date for the evening as his car was brought around. Inside the pocket of his tuxedo jacket he suddenly felt the vibrations of his cell phone. He fished it out and hit the button to receive the call. "Webb," he said in greeting.

"Hello, Clayton" the voice at the other end said. "Long time since I heard from you."

Webb carefully looked around him trying to see if his caller was within view. "What do you want, Harry?" he asked as he walked away from the crowds not wanting anyone to hear who he was speaking to. "Still hiding out in South America?"

"Nope, I'm back in States, but don't think I'm going to tell you where," Maybourne replied. "I need a favor, Webb."

"You're a traitor," Clay reminded him in a voice as close to a snarl as he was likely to ever get. "I don't help traitors, Harry. I catch them."

"I didn't do anything I wasn't ordered to do, Webb. I think you know that," Harry said.

"You sold military secrets to the Russians!" Webb hissed quietly. "It doesn't matter who ordered you to do it."

"You owe me, Webb. I need you to get a message to Admiral A.J. Chegwidden about a mutual acquaintance," Harry said.

"Chegwidden?" Clayton asked. "What mutual acquaintance?" 

"Just tell him that Jack O'Neill needs his help. He should contact General George Hammond at Cheyenne Mountain. Hammond's in command of a project called the SGC," Harry said. "Make sure Hammond is told that the NID are after the twins. You do this and all debts are paid, Webb."

"The NID?" Clayton asked. "Cheyenne Mountain? Harry what have you gotten yourself into?"

"That's classified," Maybourne told Webb with more than a hint of irony in his voice. "You want to bring down the NID don't you, Clayton? This is your chance. Save O'Neill and Carter."

"Carter? Who the Hell is Carter? Why do you care about this?" Clay asked suspiciously.

"Paying a debt," Harry answered before the closing the connection. 

Webb stared at the phone in his hand for a moment before returning to his date. He pressed several large bills into her hand as he said, "I'm sorry, darling. Something's come up. Take a cab home and use the rest to buy something pretty." His date had been around Washington D.C. society in general and Clayton Webb in particular long enough to accept Webb's order. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before beginning to plan just what bit of silk she'd buy with his money.

Clayton climbed behind the wheel of his expensive European toy as he began punching numbers into his cell phone. "Rabb," he said when the commander's answering machine picked up. "Pick up, Rabb. It's urgent."

There was a snick as the phone was picked up and then a voice said, "It's always urgent with you, Webb."

"I need to speak with your admiral, Rabb" Webb said. "I'm heading over to your place to get you now."

"Chegwidden? Why?"

"I'll explain to both of you when we get there," Clayton said. "Meet me in front of your building in five minutes."

"This better be good, Clayton" Rabb warned him as he hung up.

A few minutes later, Webb arrived in front of Rabb's apartment building in time to see Rabb kissing a tall brunette good bye. Webb pulled up next to the navy commander. He allowed Rabb just enough time to climb into the car before taking off again. 

"Where's the fire, Clay?" Rabb asked rhetorically.

"Colorado," Webb answered anyway. 

"Colorado?" Rabb questioned after a few minutes of chewing on the answer in his mind. "What's in Colorado?"

Webb was saved from replying as they pulled up in front of Admiral Chegwidden's home. Rabb and Webb climbed from the low-slung car and walked to the front door. Before they could knock the door was opened to reveal the frowning face of Admiral A.J. Chegwidden. "Webb?" he asked. "What's going on?"

"Can we go inside, Admiral?" Clayton asked. "I've got a message for you."

The admiral led them inside. After all three men were seated in the living room he ordered, "Speak."

"I got a call tonight from a former colleague," Clayton said. 

"Who?" Chegwidden asked though it came out as more of a challenge.

"Harry Maybourne," Clayton answered wincing slightly at the reaction he knew was to come.

"Maybourne!?" Chegwidden shouted. "Are you **_crazy_** Webb? He's been convicted of treason!"

"Why haven't I ever heard about this guy?" asked Rabb.

"It happened a couple years ago," Clay explained dismissively.

"And the reason you've never heard about it, Commander, is that the secrets he stole were so heavily guarded even his trial was classified," Chegwidden growled. "He escaped from custody more than a year ago."

"He said you had a mutual acquaintance, Admiral. Jack O'Neill," Webb said.

"O'Neill? What does O'Neill have to do with Maybourne?" Chegwidden demanded. 

"How do you know this O'Neill, Admiral?" Webb asked.

"He's black ops with the Air Force. Or was," A.J. replied. "I worked with him a few times when I was still with the SEALs. He was just coming in, and I was getting ready to get out. Jack O'Neill wouldn't be party to treason, Webb. He's an honorable man."

"So's Maybourne. In his own way," Webb said with conviction. "Harry said he was paying a debt. I assume it's to O'Neill. He said O'Neill needed your help."

"Why would O'Neill need my help?" A.J. said. "Last I heard of him, he'd retired after the death of his son. There were rumors..." the admiral murmured.

"Rumors about what, sir?" Rabb asked.

"Well," Chegwidden said. "Jack's son shot himself with his service pistol. More than a few people thought O'Neill was suicidal after his boy's death. There were rumors they'd recalled him for some sort of suicide mission, but that he'd survived and it had changed him. Went back into retirement."

"I was told to contact General George Hammond at Cheyenne Mountain," Clay said. "So whatever he's into, I don't think it's retirement."

"Why are you so interested in this, Webb?" Chegwidden asked.

"Because of the message I was told to have you pass on to Hammond," Webb replied. "Maybourne said to make sure Hammond knew the NID are after the twins."

"The NID?!" Rabb asked with wide eyes. "They're involved with this?"

"Who are the twins?" Chegwidden asked.

"I don't know, but I want to find out" Webb said. "Are you coming?"

"You're damned right," Chegwidden said as he glared at Webb. He picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Colonel McKenzie, I've been called out of town. I'm going to be taking Commander Rabb with me, so I'm leaving you in charge. I'll keep in contact. No, I can't tell you where we're going. I'll be in touch once we get where we're going, Colonel," he assured her before hanging up.

"Now how do we get to Cheyenne Mountain?" Rabb asked.

"I've got a plane if you can fly us, Harm" Webb answered. Rabb nodded with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Let's go," Chegwidden said.

"My name is Admiral Chegwidden," he told the young SF guard at the checkpoint to the lower levels of the mountain. After landing in Colorado Springs before dawn, it had taken them more than an hour to bully and finagle their way to this point inside the mountain. "I'd like to see General Hammond. It's urgent."

"Your name isn't on the list, sir" the young man replied. 

"I know, son" Chegwidden told him before pointing to the phone on the wall. "I need you to get on that phone and call down there. Have someone tell him that Admiral A.J. Chegwidden is here. Tell him I've been told a friend of mine, Jack O'Neill, could use my help."

"You're here to help Colonel O'Neill?" the guard asked. There was a note of hope in his voice now.

"That's what I just said isn't it," Chegwidden growled.

The guard snapped his fingers calling another man over to cover his post and then picked up the phone. They listened as he stated his case quite a few times before finally receiving an answer he found acceptable. The admiral traded looks with his two traveling companions as they listened. Something was going on. Rabb nodded almost imperceptibly as did Webb. The guard came back over to where Chegwidden, Rabb and Webb waited. "Dr. Jackson's coming up for you," he said. 

"Dr. Jackson?" Webb asked. "Is O'Neill ill then?"

"Dr. Jackson's an archaeologist not a medical doctor," the second younger guard informed them. The original guard glared at him for this statement.

"An archaeologist on an Air Force base?" Webb questioned.

"It's classified," a voice said from the end of the corridor as a thirty-something looking man emerged from the elevators accompanied by several more SF guards. "I'm Dr. Jackson. You said you were here to help Jack?" he asked. "How do you know he needs help?"

Webb warily eyed Jackson before replying, "Harry Maybourne called me. He asked me to deliver the message to Admiral Chegwidden. I have one for General Hammond as well."

Jackson blinked in surprised recognition when Webb said Maybourne's name, but he made no comment. "What's the message?" Jackson asked instead. The three visitors were all puzzled by the man in front of them. He didn't exactly have the bearing of a military man despite the fact that he was inside a top secret military base wearing military issue fatigues, but he didn't act entirely like a civilian either.

"He said the NID are after the twins," Rabb answered for him.

Jackson and the SF's gaped at him. "What?!" Jackson exclaimed at last.

"He said the NID are after the twins," Webb replied. "Didn't you hear him the first time?"

Jackson wheeled around and strode to the phone on the wall. "Get me the general," he ordered of whoever answered. "Sir, they say the NID are after the twins," Jackson said then waited for a moment. When he spoke again it was in a very quiet voice with his back turned to the visitors, but he wasn't able to speak quietly enough to avoid being overheard. "Harsesis, sir. They must think that the twins are Harsesis. Even so sir, they have naquada in their blood from Sam. With Sam and Jack..." He listened a moment longer then answered. "Yes, sir." After he hung up the phone he turned to the visitors and said, "Follow me, gentleman, and I'll take you to General Hammond," Jackson told them as he headed off down the corridor again.

When he saw the three visitors look at each other and hesitate one of the guards who had arrived with Jackson said, "Better hurry. He's not going to wait for you. Not with the NID after the twins."

"What twins?" Webb asked in frustration.

"Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter's newborns," the guard answered.

They had to jog to catch up with Jackson before he reached the elevator. As soon as the doors shut Jackson punched a number then turned to pick up the phone mounted on the wall. "We're in the elevator, sir" he said. "You can lock us down now."

"What?" Webb screamed. The guards surrounding them eyed him cautiously.

Jackson hung up the phone and turned to the three men staring at him. "The base is going into lockdown," he told them. "Nothing goes up, nothing comes down. We can't risk the NID getting the twins off base. We'd never find them again."

"Why is the NID interested in two newborns?" Webb asked.

"Do you know anything about the SGC?" Jackson asked.

"Of course," Webb lied with the practiced ease of his profession.

Jackson eyed him carefully for a moment before saying, "Nice try. The general will decide what to tell you."


	3. Chapter 3

The whoosh of the elevator doors opening interrupted whatever response Webb may have made. Jackson exited the elevator and began moving quickly down the hall. One of the guards gestured for the visitors to precede them so they fell into step behind Jackson. They followed him through a maze of corridors with their guards trailing behind. Finally Jackson stopped at a door marked with the name 'Hammond' and knocked politely.

"Enter!" they heard a voice say from within. Jackson opened the door and ushered them inside before motioning the guards to stay outside.

"Let me see if I understand you correctly, sir" the burly bald man behind the desk was saying as they entered the office. Webb and his companions assumed the man to be General Hammond. "You expect me to hand over Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter for transport to Leavenworth where they're to be held for court-martial. Further, we're to turn the twins over to child services."

"That's exactly right, Hammond" agreed the general seated opposite him in one of the visitor's chairs.

Whatever Hammond wanted to reply to his superior officer's statement he bit it back. Instead he rose to greet the newcomers. "Gentlemen, I understand you're here to offer your help to Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter?" he asked.

"I was told my assistance might be needed," Admiral Chegwidden confirmed.

"It appears they're in need of a couple of good lawyers," Hammond said.

"We'd be happy to serve, sir" Rabb said. 

"They're Navy!" the senior general said. Rabb noted the nametag on his uniform read 'Moore' and realized he was the Air Force's senior JAG officer.

"You said yourself that the Air Force didn't have any other JAG officers with high enough security clearances available right now," General Hammond reminded his visitor with some satisfaction. It was the excuse Moore had used for why O'Neill and Carter hadn't been offered representation as of yet. "They're here and willing to help." 

"You can see your clients after they've been transferred to Leavenworth," General Moore told them grudgingly.

"They're not going to be moved, sir" Hammond said. "Neither of them have been cleared medically to be transferred."

"When will they be cleared?" the colonel seated next to Moore asked. 

"Not for some time, Colonel Rivers," Hammond informed him the tight lipped expression on his face conveying his displeasure at the entire conversation. "And as for child services taking custody of the twins, Dr. Jackson has papers giving him guardianship."

"They're not legal," Rivers informed them. "They weren't even notarized."

"No...they weren't, but then a notary public isn't a standard convenience where they've been!" he mocked the Air Force colonel.

"Daniel," Hammond warned. He picked a stack of papers up off his desk and held them out to the men in front of him. "We seem to have four lawyers in the room. Why don't we ask for a legal opinion? The originals are in a safe place."

Rabb stepped forward and took the papers from the general's outstretched hand before the Air Force officers had a chance to take them. He read the top page quickly before handing it to the admiral who likewise read it before passing it on to the Air Force attorneys.

"I'm not an expert in this area of law," Rabb began, "but it looks like this should hold up in court. It's a handwritten document signed by both parents asking that Dr. Daniel Jackson and Dr. Janet Frasier assume guardianship of their children should they die or become incapacitated."

"It will never see the inside of a court though," General Moore said. "This document is classified. You will hand the infants over to child services immediately."

"Like Hell I will," Jackson yelled. "Possession is nine tenths of the law they say. Well, I'm in possession of my godchildren, and I'm not handing them over!"

"Dr. Jackson, they'll be well cared for," Moore told him. "Child services has a foster home already prepared for them."

"I just bet they do," Daniel agreed with more than a hint of cynical sarcasm. "I'm not letting them out of my custody. The NID isn't getting their hands on those babies."

"The NID? Are you crazy, Jackson? What's going on here? Why would the NID be interested in a couple of babies?" Moore demanded. 

Hammond looked at his watch. "Daniel, give these men the usual orientation briefing, tell them everything we know about what happened to your teammates, and answer any questions they have," he said handing the matter of the JAG officers over to the archaeologist for now at least. "SG-4 should have been back two hours ago."

"If you'll follow me, sirs?" Jackson said as he stood by the door.

"Now just a God-damned minute, Hammond!" Moore barked. "I'm not going to be dismissed by..."

"General, I have a team of eight in harm's way!" Hammond barked back. "I need to find out what's happened to them and possibly mount a rescue mission. I do not have the time for this right now. Dr. Jackson can answer any questions you may have concerning the situation with Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter." With that he strode from the room without a backward glance.

"By God, Admiral, you're going to have one more client by the time I'm through with Hammond," Moore growled.

Dr. Jackson glared at Moore but kept silent as he motioned for the others to follow him. The visitors followed Jackson out of the General's office and noted that the SF's had not been withdrawn. They followed the group into the briefing room and took up positions along the wall. Daniel quickly queued up the orientation presentation and began his lecture.

"You expect us to believe that you found an ancient alien artifact and are using it to explore the galaxy?" Rivers demanded at the end of Jackson's presentation. 

"Why would I lie, Colonel?" Jackson asked with more than a little frustration. "I mean, it's not as if you can't corroborate this information with other base personnel or the brass."

"I don't buy it," Moore informed the frustrated man just as they all noticed a vibration in the room.

"Why don't we take them down for the show, Dr. Jackson," one of the SF's suggested with a nod towards a door at the far end of the room..

Daniel nodded. "Care to see the Stargate in action, sirs?"

They followed Jackson into the control room where General Hammond stood behind a slightly chubby sergeant looking at the monitors. The tension in the room was unmistakable.

"Sierra golf four, do you read me?" Simmons said again. "Sierra golf four, come in please."

Suddenly they heard a response through the speakers in the room. "I read you, sierra golf charlie. This is sierra golf four echo," the voice reported in a weak voice. They listened as the voice, now identified as Corporal Anderson, explained the situation at the other end of the Stargate. Three men were dead. Anderson was badly injured, perhaps dying. The other four members of the team had been taken by the natives. As Anderson explained the situation, Hammond was on the phone giving orders. 

"Send a MALP through, Simmons" Hammond ordered before leaning over the microphone on the desktop in front of him. "Just hold on a little longer, son. We're sending help."

"Sir," the voice from the speakers confirmed.

The attention of everyone in the control room was drawn to the embarkation room below as the MALP unit rumbled through the event horizon. The visitors noticed a squad of men enter the room and stand waiting at the foot of the ramp in full combat gear. They watched on the screen as the MALP sent back images from the other side of the Stargate. After the MALP had confirmed they would meet no resistance at the other end, Hammond ordered a go on the rescue mission and the squad at the bottom of the ramp moved through the 'Gate. Seconds after the last man had gone through the 'Gate, it shut down.

"Now do you believe?" Jackson asked.

Moore and the others nodded dazedly. "Now explain what all this has to do with this fraternization charge against O'Neill and Carter?" Moore asked. "Fraternization is fraternization."

"Nothing is that simple here, sir" Hammond told his superior officer. "Especially not when it concerns SG-1. Let's go back to the briefing room and Dr. Jackson can explain."

"Why can't you explain it?" Chegwidden asked.

"Dr. Jackson was there. I wasn't," Hammond told them plainly.

Once they were seated again at the big conference table all eyes fell to Dr. Jackson who sat with his head down staring at his hands. They waited for a minute for him to begin, but once it became apparent he wouldn't General Hammond began to speak instead.

"A little over a year ago SG-1 was assigned a recon mission to P93-2K3," Hammond explained. "They would do a meet and greet with the locals and a planetary survey. Collect soil, mineral, flora, and fauna samples. The mission was scheduled to last for three days. The locals were a primitive patriarchal society."

The last was enough to jar Daniel from his quiet reverie and he began to describe what had happened on the mission in a low voice. "The women in that society were required to cover themselves much like in Muslim society today," Daniel explained. "It was something we'd run into before. We didn't have a hard and fast rule about it, but if we felt it would help with the initial contact, Sam would sometimes agree to wear the native dress." 

"She didn't like it," Hammond interjected.

Daniel snorted. "She hated it," he corrected. "Cause Jack and I would tease her about it. This time she said just once she'd like to see one of us trussed up in the native garb. I don't know why, but Jack said something like 'sure why not?' then went off with the village men to change as well. The first two days of the mission went well. Just after breakfast on the third day we heard the 'Gate dialing up. Sam and I gathered our equipment while Teal'c and Jack went to check it out."

Daniel's eyes had taken on the glazed quality of someone whose gaze had turned inward to something only he could see. "Couldn't have been more than five minutes before they radioed back that it was a Goa'uld patrol," Daniel mumbled. "Sam got our stuff out of the village while I warned the village elders to say nothing of our presence. When Jack and Teal'c rejoined us in the woods outside the village he decided that he and Sam would recon the village since they were still dressed as natives while Teal'c and I hid."

Daniel's explanation was interrupted though as they all felt the slight vibration of the Stargate being activated. Hammond excused himself from the room, and Daniel resumed his story.

"The jaffa picked Sam out of the crowd, and Jack stepped forward claiming her as his wife," Daniel explained.

"His wife?!" Moore growled.

"I believe we do something similar in Saudi Arabia, General Moore" Daniel reminded him with a raised eyebrow. "They grabbed Jack as well then. There was nothing Teal'c or I could do. We were severely out-gunned. So we followed the patrol back to the 'Gate to find out where they were taking our teammates," he told them. "As soon as the 'Gate had shutdown, we dialed out to Earth for re-enforcements, but by the time we got to the world the Goa'uld had taken Jack and Sam to, they were gone."

"I take it Colonel O'Neill and Major Cater have been found?" Admiral Chegwidden asked.

"Yes," Hammond informed them as he entered the room with a soldier in field gear following behind. "Six days ago now. Dr. Jackson, Colonel Coburn has reservations about the possible success of a military extraction of our people. He wants to explore some other options. Gear up, and I'll take over here."

Daniel nodded. It was then that the visitors noticed the second set of field gear the soldier had carried in with him. Jackson made quick work of slipping into the webbed vest and belting on both a knife and sidearm before taking the larger semi-automatic rifle the younger man handed him.

"Good luck, Daniel" Hammond said as the two men exited the room.

"You're sending civilians into combat?!?" Chegwidden asked incredulously. "What the Hell kind of outfit are you running, General?"

"I'm sending Daniel to avoid combat if we can, but he can handle himself if things get hairy," Hammond said. "Other than you, Admiral, Daniel's probably got more combat experience than anyone in this room." Whatever questions they might have about how a civilian would have acquired such extensive combat experience went unanswered as Hammond slid a tape into a VCR mounted beneath one of the video monitors. "This is what happened six days ago," he said.

They watched in silence as Carter's slow crawl through the Stargate dragging her commanding officer behind played on the screen. When the tape ended it was Rabb that broke the silence. "What are their chances?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

"It's astonishing they've made it this long," General Hammond told his visitors unable to keep the sadness completely from his voice. "They're hanging on by sheer willpower. Their own and that of our medical staff. One of the twins is hurt too," he said. "One of the blasts Major Carter took penetrated her uterus burning J.D. He's got first and second degree burns on his torso and right arm."

"There's no hope then?" Chegwidden asked.

"Not on Earth," Hammond said. "If we can get them stabilized enough to take them through the 'Gate, we can take them to the Asgard or possibly the Nox."

"Now just a damn minute! They're up on charges and you want to take them..." Moore said.

"General Moore, you can't prosecute the dead!" Hammond growled at his superior officer letting more than a hint of his emotions show through. 

"Easy, Hammond" Chegwidden murmured. 

"What I don't understand is where those guardianship papers came from?" Rabb asked. "I mean they couldn't have written them after that," he said pointing to the now dark screen. 

"They kept a journal during their captivity. Major Carter handed it to Daniel on the ramp," Hammond explained as he once again pointed to the screen. "The guardianship papers were in it."

"I'd like to see this journal, sir" Rabb requested. "It might help."

"Oh, I can guarantee it will help, Commander" Hammond said. "They'll be cleared of these charges in the end. They obeyed orders. This is just an attempt to damage their reputations and get the twins."

"How the Hell..." Chegwidden murmured.

General Hammond rubbed the back of his neck trying to relieve some of the tension that had been his constant companion for the past six days. "All our teams have standing orders that if they get left behind they're to do whatever they have to do to survive," he explained.

"Wait a minute!" Chegwidden growled. "Standing orders in the event they're left behind? Is this a regular occurrence?"

Hammond sighed. "Did you miss the part of Dr. Jackson's lecture that explained we're at war, Admiral? The iris isn't there to look pretty! We've already repelled several dozen attacks."

"Just how many people are we missing?" Moore demanded.

"Too many," Hammond informed him. "Sam and Jack were the only ones we held out any hope of coming home alive."

"So fucking his 2IC helped O'Neill stay alive how?" Rivers sneered.

The look on Hammond's face should have been a warning to Rivers that he'd stepped well beyond the line with that comment, but the smirk on his face didn't disappear. "They weren't taken as prisoners, Colonel Rivers" Hammond growled. "They were taken for the purpose of breeding slaves." 

Hammond left the table as the lawyers and Webb attempted to process what he had just told them. Before any of them had fully come to grips with what he implied, Hammond returned with a binder which he dropped onto the table with a thud. "Read, gentlemen" he ordered.


	4. Chapter 4

Rabb looked to Admiral Chegwidden for permission before pulling the binder to himself. He flipped open the first photocopied page and began to read aloud to the rest of the group.

_June 6. The jaffa patrol took us to another planet where we were immediately prodded close together. The patrol leader touched some control on the wrist plate of his armor and the biggest honking set of transport rings I've ever seen came down and transported us to this ship. We felt the engines activate a few minutes ago. So much for waiting for rescue. We're on our own. JO_

"Transport rings?" Webb asked.

"Site to site transportation for short distances," Hammond explained. "They'll usually hold about a dozen people at most."

"Keep reading," Chegwidden told Commander Rabb. The goa'uld technology held no interest in him. He wanted to know what had happened to O'Neill and Carter.

_June 10. We've been transported planet-side. I think Carter recognizes this place from Jolinar's memories. That can't be good. She's been pretty much out of it for the last few hours. Flashbacks. I'm going to give it a couple more hours then try to snap her out of it. As soon as we landed men began coming out of the crowd of slaves to claim the women in our group. I had to be very forceful in claiming Carter as my 'wife'. I've managed to get us into some sort of cell. It's a defensible position. I've got a bad feeling about this place. JO_

_June 10. The colonel is right. I recognize this place from Jolinar's memories. God help us. We're on Panersh. The colonel somehow brought me out of the flashbacks about an hour ago I think. When he told me he'd 'claimed' me I got really angry at him. He couldn't have known. Not that it would make a difference. The colonel's code of ethics would never allow him to let them..._

"Let them what, Rabb?" Moore demanded when the commander's eyes widened and his voice trailed off into silence.

"Rape her, sir" he replied. He visibly got his emotions under control and returned his attention to the photocopied journal in front of him.

_...rape me. This isn't a labor camp. It's a breeding farm for slaves. That's why they took the colonel as well when he claimed to be my husband. We've been brought here to be used as a breeding pair. SC _

_June 11. Carter freaked after she finished her entry. Finally got everything from Jolinar's memories out of her. She's sleeping now. _

"If she's this unstable why was she on a team?" Rivers asked.

"Carter's stable," Hammond told them. "Jolinar's memories tend to be overwhelming. The human mind wasn't meant to carry the memories of another being. Certainly not thousands of years of memories."

"What?!" Moore asked.

Hammond sighed then quickly explained the incident that left Carter with the memories of the Tok'ra symbiote, Jolinar. "Let Commander Rabb read," he suggested as he finished his story.

_The Tok'ra sent Jolinar here undercover as a minor goa'uld system lord learning about the running of such a farm for her overlord. There's no Stargate on this planet. The ship comes once a Panersh year to drop off new slaves and to take possession of the year's 'crop' of infants. The men are forced to mine naquada as well as stand at stud for the female slaves. The women grow what little food the slaves are fed, and it's all laced with fertility drugs. The new women are given six months to conceive or they're put down. If the 'defective' woman is married her husband dies with her. Seems grieving husbands cause too much trouble. Go figure. She wants me to let the gangs have her. Not going to happen. I've ordered her to continue to pretend we're married. We've got six months to find a way out of this. I'm not going to sacrifice her to save my own life. JO_

"Carter's body chemistry was altered because of the incident with Jolinar," Hammond explained. "Our medical personnel believed she would never be able to conceive."

"Guess they were wrong about that," Clayton mumbled quietly to himself. Harm cocked his head at the CIA agent. The look on his face was a clear warning to behave.

"So your contention is they broke the fraternization rules to stay alive in the camp?" Moore said. "When did they stop pretending and begin..."

"Ten days," Hammond replied. "It's in the journal." 

Harm leafed quickly forward several pages.

_June 21. The colonel was flogged this morning. Before the morning meal all the new women were examined by some sort of jaffa medic. I guess the colonel and I aren't the first to pretend. They flogged him as an example to the others. One of the jaffa guards explained later that I wasn't punished because it would lower my chances of conceiving. He reminds me of Teal'c when we first met him on Chulak. They made the colonel work the full day after. When he returned tonight he was already running a fever. The gangs are milling around near our door. I think they're going to try to take me from him while he's incapacitated. This is what that jaffa was trying to warn me about. SC _

_June 22. It's morning. It's a good thing we had our knives when we were captured. The jaffa didn't even take them away. I had to kill two of them before the rest gave up last night. Not that I could sleep even after they were gone. The jaffa that warned me about the gangs yesterday came around our cell this morning. He just glanced at the bodies and ordered their removal. Then he told me I would stay in my cell today and care for my husband's fever. I've done what I can for the colonel. Now I need to sleep. The gangs will be back tonight. SC_

_June 23. More last night. Fought them off. Arm is broken. Won't be able to hold them off again tonight. Must rest. SC_

Rabb paused to take a sip of water and let the words he'd just read sink into his mind. He didn't want to read any more. He didn't know much about these two Air Force officers yet, but already he respected them. Harm knew though that if he was going to help her and O'Neill he had to continue to read no matter what it revealed.

_June 25. Carter's hurt bad, but she wasn't raped. My fever broke this morning. I woke to find another slave in our cell. An older woman. She was tending to Carter's injuries. I read Carter's entry and asked what happened. If I hadn't already thought the Goa'uld were sick bastards before, I would now. Seems its fine to rape a woman here as long as you don't damage her doing it. Cuts and bruises don't count, of course. The would-be rapist has to do real damage before the jaffa will intervene. Carter's broken arm qualifies. While it heals, she's safe from the gangs. She's got a serious concussion as well. She's drifting in and out. Fuck the regs. They can court-martial me when we get back to Earth. I'm not going to let her die. JO_

_June 28. We spent last night discussing options. We've only got two, and he left it up to me to choose. Said it was my body. We can break out of camp, but this planet makes Netu look like Shangri-la. The chances of surviving out there long enough for the ship to return are pretty much nil. The other option is staying in the camp. The colonel's right though. If we obey the regs in the camp, we're dead. He can't take another flogging, and in five months if I'm not pregnant it's a moot point anyway. I'm going to have him cut my birth control implant out of me tonight. We have to survive long enough to attempt escape in the ship in fourteen months. I have to try to get pregnant. SC_

"O'Neill didn't have to offer to be the daddy," Moore declared knowing that Carter had made the only choice possible in getting pregnant.

"She should have chosen some stranger? Or maybe you'd have preferred it if she were gang raped?" Rabb demanded angrily. "At least with O'Neill she could be sure he wasn't carrying some sort of disease. She knew he wouldn't hurt her."

"It also kept them together in a defensible position," Chegwidden reminded them. "It sounds like if she'd chosen anyone else they would have been separated."

"That's not my decision to make," Moore replied. "That's up to the members of the court. Anything else?"

As the others argued Rabb had continued to leaf through the pages of the journal. He began reading from the journal again hoping to keep the argument from getting out of control.

_Oct. 13. Sam's trying to get me to abandon her. She's not pregnant yet. She can just forget the idea of me leaving her behind. It stopped being a matter of necessity some time ago. If it ever was. I love her. We get out of this together or not at all. We've begun gathering supplies. If she's not pregnant next month, we're getting out of this camp. We'll just have to take our chances in the wilds. Besides, even if she is pregnant, if we can't think of a way to get ourselves on that ship, we've got to get out of this camp. Neerti's bought this year's crop of infants according to our friendly jaffa guard, Tarn'ac. There's only one reason she'd want that many infants. So far the only plan we've come up with is fairly suicidal. Not that that's ever stopped us before. JO_

Rabb flipped forward several pages. 

"Read us everything, Rabb," Moore demanded.

"Most of this doesn't make sense to me," Rabb admitted as he gestured at the text in front of him..

Hammond reached forward and snagged the binder from the commander. He glanced swiftly at the page the journal was open to before explaining, "Intelligence reports they were gathering from their fellow slaves. The six symbol combinations are Stargate coordinates. The symbols next to the coordinates designate if there's a Goa'uld in control of the world, and if so which one." He pushed the journal back across the conference table to Commander Rabb.

Rabb flipped forward another few pages before reading once more.

_Nov. 30. The jaffa medics tell me I'm pregnant. Two months along. When I told Jack, we both started crying. If we were on Earth, this would be cause for celebration. A miracle. Instead all we can think of is what will happen to our child if I give birth here. I read his last entry. We've both stopped pretending now. I love him too. There's no point in hiding it. Time's running out for us. We both feel it. Our one plan may be suicidal, but it's the best chance the baby will have. I'll be far enough along by then the baby can be delivered by c-section post-mortem if necessary. We'd rather die making the attempt than see our child in Neerti's hands. SC_

"Neerti?" Webb asked. "They mentioned her before. What's so awful about this Neerti?"

"She's one of the Goa'uld system lords. We've run into her before. She likes to experiment on human subjects," Hammond explained with a look of intense hatred on his face. "My CMO has adopted a girl O'Neill and his team rescued from one of Neerti's worlds. Cassandra nearly died from Neerti's experiments. She was apparently experimenting on the entire population of that world."

"My God!" Chegwidden whispered as he began to understand just how desperate O'Neill and Carter must have been to get their children to safety. 

"Is there anything else relevant in there, Commander?" Moore asked. He was also clearly shaken to learn what had been in store for the two infants.

Rabb began quickly paging through the journal again. After a minute he stopped and began to read again.

_September 7. The ship will return soon. Sam's so big now we worry she won't be able to move fast enough when the time comes. Our plan is to reveal ourselves as Tau'ri so we'll be taken aboard the ship. If we can't escape from the ship, once the bidding for us starts it's likely that a Tok'ra agent will hear of it and get the word out. Jacob won't let his daughter and grandchildren stay in Goa'uld hands. And we know Teal'c and Daniel and the rest of our people at the SGC will do everything they can as well. JO & SC_

"That's crazy!" Rivers barked.

"I don't think they disagreed with that sentiment, son" Admiral Chegwidden replied soberly. "I don't think they cared though." 

Rabb turned the next few pages in the journal. "These next few pages are goodbye letters to their friends and family, wills for both of them, and the guardianship papers we've already seen."

"Their plans are usually a little crazy," Hammond admitted with a small sad smile on his face. "They work though. They've saved the planet more than a few times."

"General Hammond, I realize these are your people, but that's a bit over the top," Moore chided his subordinate.

"No, it's not" Hammond replied. "Feel free to ask Dr. Jackson and Teal'c about some of their missions." All eyes in the room turned then to see the water within the pitcher on the table slosh gently around. "Excuse me," Hammond said as he quickly left the room even before the klaxons sounded and a voice announced over the PA another off-world activation. 


	5. Chapter 5

Rabb, Webb, and Chegwidden looked at each other for only a moment before rising to follow General Hammond back to the control room. Moore and Rivers weren't about to be left behind though. They followed the other three men down to the control room just in time to watch the Stargate activate. The atmosphere in the control room was tense as they waited for something to appear in the pool of energy within the Stargate. 

Finally a figure landed on the ramp with a thud. The mood of the SGC personnel noticeably shifted as they got a look at the man on the ramp. Hammond looked at the men who had followed him into the control room. "Follow me and keep your mouths shut," he ordered. 

"What's going on?" Moore demanded. 

"That's Major Carter's father," Hammond explained. "The message we sent him said only that she'd been found. He doesn't know about the twins or how bad her condition is." Leaving them to follow on their own Hammond took the stairs out of the room. He entered the embarkation room with the visitors close on his heels. 

"George!" Jacob Carter cried. "She's been found? What about Jack?" 

Hammond came forward and gave his old friend a quick hug in welcome before stepping back though he left one hand resting on Jacob's shoulder. "Yes, she and Jack rescued themselves," Hammond told his friend. "Jacob, it's...it doesn't look good. They're both hurt bad." 

There were tears in Jacob's eyes as he nodded. "Take me to them?" he requested. 

George nodded as he led the former general toward the infirmary. Most of his focus was on his friend, but he was dimly aware of the JAG officers and Webb following. Jacob asked no questions on their short walk, for which Hammond was grateful. He didn't know how he was going to tell his friend what had happened to his daughter. Entering the infirmary, George led Jacob towards two beds placed side by side secluded near the back of the infirmary. He smiled sadly upon seeing Teal'c seated between the two beds in the same place he'd been almost constantly for six days. 

The tears Jacob had kept at bay until then burst free as he saw the multitude of equipment attached to his daughter and O'Neill. "Holy Hannah, George!" he whispered hoarsely. "What..." 

"There will be time for that later, Jacob," George told his friend. "Talk to her," he urged his friend. "Let her know you're here." 

Jacob nodded then stepped forward towards the bed. Teal'c rose as the former general approached. 

"GeneralCarter," he acknowledged the other man with a respectful bow of his head. 

"Hey, Teal'c" Jacob greeted the jaffa warrior as he came to stand beside Sam's bed. He leaned down and very gently kissed her cheek. "Sammy, it's Dad," he whispered to her. "Hang in there baby. Keep fighting. I need you to keep fighting, Sammy. I'm going to go say hi to Jack, " he told her as he straightened and turned to the other bed. His daughter's appearance was bad, but Jack's was so much worse. Unlike Sam he lay nearly on his stomach with a pillow propping him slightly on his side. The bandages covering his back making it obvious why he had been placed in such an awkward position. Jacob leaned over the bed placing one hand carefully on Jack's shoulder. "Jack, it's Dad," Jacob whispered to the unconscious man in the bed. "I'm going to tell you what I just told Sammy. Hang in there, Jack. Keep fighting. You didn't make it all the way back here to die now. We need you to keep fighting, Jack." Jacob straightened and turned back to where General Hammond stood with the strangers who had followed them down to the infirmary. "Where's the healing device, George?" he asked. 

"I will retrieve the device," Teal'c offered and after receiving a nod from Hammond suited action to words leaving the room. 

"What happened?" he demanded as he took Teal'c's seat between the two beds. He gingerly held his daughter's hand as he waited for Hammond to speak. 

George hesitated then took a deep breath before finally saying in a rush, "They were on Panersh." 

"God!," Jacob sobbed as the knowledge of just what Panersh was relayed to him through his symbiote. "Sammy...no...." 

"You know better than that, Jacob" Hammond admonished gently. "Jack would never let...that...happen to her. You are a grandfather again though, " Hammond told his friend. "Sam was in labor when she dragged Jack through the 'Gate six days ago. Probably brought on by her wounds." 

"Then..." Jacob said with some confusion. 

George smiled sadly. "Let's just say that Jack can call you Dad legitimately from now on," he said gently. 

Jacob nodded as he looked over at the man in the bed next to his daughter's. "She could do a lot worse," he choked out. 

"Wait a second," Moore said. "I served under you. You're an Air Force officer! How can you be taking this so calmly? Your daughter's CO is the father of her children! It's a court-martial offense!"

Jacob's eyes flashed suddenly causing the visitors to startle then jump back as he spoke in the resonant voice of his symbiote, **"Jacob has seen and experienced more than enough in this universe to know that the rules as they are on Earth cannot always apply off-world."**

"What the Hell?" Moore demanded as he looked first at Jacob and then at General Hammond.

"Jacob's been blended with a Tok'ra symbiote," Hammond explained not quite hiding his enjoyment at the two Air Force officer's obvious discomfort. "Gentlemen, meet Selmak. Jacob, Selmak, meet General Moore and Colonel Rivers. They're here to court-martial Sam and Jack for fraternization."

Jacob's eyes flashed again causing Moore and Rivers to flinch though they both controlled the reaction admirably. Only Hammond and the various medical personnel realized that the flash most likely meant that Selmak had taken control to prevent Jacob from doing something most unwise in the heat of the moment. 

"Admiral Chegwidden and Commander..." Hammond stopped turning to the other Navy officer.

"Rabb, sir" Harm supplied.

"Rabb have volunteered their services as Sam and Jack's attorneys," Hammond continued with a nod of thanks to the commander.

**"And you are?"** Selmak asked the remaining stranger.

"Clayton Webb. I'm with them," he explained nervously as he pointed to the two Navy officers. 

Jacob bowed his head a moment before speaking in his own voice, "And just why are you here, Mr. Webb?"

"A former colleague of mine asked me to inform Admiral Chegwidden that Colonel O'Neill needed help," Webb said as he stared at the former Air Force general curiously. "He said the NID were after the colonel's twins. I don't like the NID, so I decided to tag along to see what kind of help I could be."

"Twins?" Jacob asked.

"Your grandchildren, sir" a voice said from the far end of the room. "I heard your voice out here and went to get them."

"Janet," Jacob greeted the doctor as she walked carefully forward carrying a blanket wrapped baby in one arm at the same time she pushed an IV stand along beside her with the other. A nurse pushed a second cart on which various pieces of monitoring equipment rested. A second nurse followed behind the two of them carrying a second bundled infant. "What's wrong with my grandbaby?" he demanded anxiously. 

Janet quickly explained the injuries J.D. had sustained as she gently placed him into his grandfather's arms. "The monitors are just a precaution because of the drugs we're giving him through the IV. The burns are painful, but he'll recover. He probably won't even scar," she assured the elder Carter. 

"J.D.?" Jacob questioned as he looked down at the bandage swathed infant in his arms. 

"Sam and Jack had a journal on them, Jacob" Hammond explained quietly as he took the second infant from the nurse. "They were pretty sure they weren't going to survive the escape. They named the babies in the journal. That's Jacob Daniel you've got there, and I've got Georgiana Tia. So...J.D. and Gina." 

"What about Sam and Jack?" Jacob asked as he gently loosened the blanket around his grandson so that he could count toes and fingers and get a better idea of just how injured the boy was. It seemed important to him somehow that he perform this age old ritual of new parents for Sam and Jack. George loosened the blankets wrapped around his namesake so Jacob could count Gina's fingers and toes as well. 

"Sam has several blast wounds on her torso. She was hit at a distance so the damage wasn't as extensive as it could have been," Janet explained quietly. "When she came through she was already in heavy labor probably brought on, as I said, by her injuries. From what we can gather from their journal the twins are nearly full term. Sam lost a lot of blood though. If it weren't for the extra blood volume from her pregnancy, I don't think she would have made it through the 'Gate. She and Jack are both malnourished which is complicating things." 

"And Jack?" he asked. 

"He suffered multiple blasts to the back. One...one hit his spine," Janet informed him in a choked voice. "I can't tell how much damage it did. There is reflex movement in his extremities, so I don't think his spine has been severely injured. I'm keeping them both in a coma with medication to keep them from aggravating their injuries further. It's the best way we can do for them right now." 

Jacob bowed his head briefly as he allowed Selmak to take control. **"Dr. Frasier, I do not believe we can help them using the healing device,"** Selmak admitted. ** "If they are as weak as you describe, using it on them could send them into systemic shock."**

"I suspected as much," Janet admitted. "Can you stabilize them for transport through the Gate?" 

**"For what purpose?" **Selmak questioned. ** "The Tok'ra cannot heal them, Dr. Frasier. We depend on our symbiotes to heal us, and the Tollan are gone."**

"The Asgard have agreed to help them," General Hammond explained. "They owe Sam a lot." 

"But the war with the Replicators?" Jacob asked in his own voice. 

"It's going better since SG-3 found that android, but we still have to take Sam and Jack to them," Hammond explained. "There are no ships to spare to come here." 

"Are you sure these Asgard can heal them, sir?" Rabb asked. "I mean...won't it be dangerous to move them?" 

"I can't allow it," Moore stated firmly. "I can't allow two officers facing court-martial to..." 

"You'll allow it, Moore, because if you don't and my daughter or Jack dies, I'll spend the rest of my life making you pay," Jacob vowed menacingly. "And thanks to Selmak I'm going to live for a very long time." Whatever Moore would have replied remained unknown as Teal'c returned carrying a small box. 

Teal'c opened the box and held it as Jacob pulled the alien healing device recovered on Cimmeria from within. The visitors traded curious looks at the small device that looked more like a piece of jewelry than anything else. 

"Let's take care of you first, huh J.D.?" Jacob murmured to the infant he held in his arms. "Your mom and dad would be pretty ticked off otherwise." Jacob held the instrument over his grandson and the others watched as the ruby-like jewel covering his palm began to glow. A minute later the glow faded and Jacob began tugging at the baby's bandages. 

"Let me get some scissors, sir" Janet told him. One of the nurses had already gone to the rolling cabinet along the wall and quickly retrieved a pair of scissors from within. She returned and handed them to Janet who made quick work of carefully cutting the gauze from the baby's chest and arm. "Like it never happened," she confirmed with a smile as J.D. latched onto her finger. With her other hand she quickly removed the electrodes attaching him to the monitors. After the electrodes were gone, she pulled her finger away from J.D.'s grip so she could gently remove the IV inserted in his tiny foot. "There you go," she murmured. 

"Take him for a minute while I see to Sam and Jack," Jacob ordered as he rose from the chair. He transferred the baby to her waiting arms then turned his attention to where his daughter lay. He placed both hands together on the healing device this time. As the jewel began to glow this time, there was a look of intense concentration on his face. 

Janet stepped back slightly as she jostled the baby in her arms soothingly. 

Harm stepped forward to her side and whispered in her ear, "May I?" Without waiting for her reply he carefully unwrapped the baby and looked down at his now unburned skin. "Incredible!" he murmured before looking up at Jacob. "Will this work?" 

Janet gazed solemnly at the Navy commander. "I don't know," she admitted frankly as the glow from the healing device on Jacob's hand faded. "Excuse me," she said as she rose from her seat and returned to her friend's bedside. 

**"That is all I dare do for now," **Selmak informed them. ** "Her body needs to rest from the strain the healing device has put on it. I will continue with Samantha in a few hours,"** he told them as he turned to the other bed where Jack lay. As Jacob held the healing device over Jack's prone body the jewel began to glow again. 

Janet held J.D. in one arm as she checked his mother's vital signs one-handed with the help of one of the nurses. 

"DoctorFrasier?" Teal'c asked. 

"There's some improvement," she informed him with a tired smile. "I'd say Jacob's going to need to do several more sessions with the healing device at this rate, but it is working." 

"Sir, Doctor. Can you answer some questions for us while the general works?" Rabb asked politely. 

"Ask," Hammond replied. 

"Why are the NID after J.D. and Gina?" he asked with more than a small amount of confusion in his voice. "What's a Harcesis?" 

The reaction when that word left his mouth was instantaneous from the SGC personnel. "Where did you hear that word?" Hammond asked in a low controlled voice. 

"Topside," Admiral Chegwidden said. "When Dr. Jackson was on the phone with you." 

Hammond and the others relaxed slightly though the tension in the room was still thick enough to cut with a knife. "Harcesis are the human children of Goa'uld parents," Teal'c explained in his solemn quiet voice. "Such a child contains the genetic memory of the entire Goa'uld race." 

"Why would the NID think that those babies are Harcesis?" Rabb asked with a nod towards the baby General Hammond still cradled. 

"Sam was host to Jolinar," Hammond reminded them. 

"That still leaves Colonel O'Neill," Moore said entering the conversation. 

"Hathor stuck a symbiote in him about three years ago," Hammond explained. "One of the Tok'ra managed to kill it before it could bond to him, but the NID wouldn't care about that. The twins still have naquada in their blood from Sam." 

"Why is that significant?" Webb asked. 

"They can wield Goa'uld technology," Hammond replied. "Like the healing device. Without naquada in your blood it's just a pretty trinket." 

"That's why you didn't attempt to use it until now?" Moore asked. "But if you can't use it why keep it?" 

"Sam can use it and has in the past," Dr. Frasier informed them not mentioning that her own daughter Cassandra had naquada in her blood. "And we have a team studying it to figure out how it works." 

"So the twins aren't Harcesis?" Rabb asked. 

"No, I've run tests. They're definitely not Harcesis," Dr. Frasier confirmed. 

"How would you know?" Moore asked curiously. 

"I've had the chance to examine a real Harsesis child," she told them. "I know what to look for." 

"What child?" Moore asked. 

"My stepson Shi'fu," Daniel replied from the doorway as he half-carried an injured soldier into the infirmary and laid him on the nearest bed. Janet quickly handed J.D. to Daniel so she could go to work treating the injured man. Admiral Chegwidden looked like he wanted to ask more, but a slight shake of the head from General Hammond silenced him before he could further open the wounds on Daniel's heart. 


	6. Chapter 6

"Granger, Anotelli" Coburn called from the doorway breaking the silence that had fallen over the infirmary except for the occasional mumbled order from the doctors as they worked on the injured soldiers. "Go down to the commissary and pass the hat," he ordered. "We need how much gold in an hour, Daniel?" 

"Two pounds," Daniel replied distractedly. 

"Dr. Jackson?" Hammond asked as ushered them into the corridor outside the infirmary with the rest of Coburn's team trailing behind. "Colonel? What's going on?" 

"Beiers over there started all this by raping a girl, sir" Coburn explained as he angrily motioned to one of the men the medical staff were working on. "Daniel got them to let our people go, but the girl..." 

"They're going to stone her, sir" Daniel explained. "I've convinced them to let me buy her instead, but they'd only give me an hour to come up with the gold." 

"Daniel," Hammond sighed. 

"I know, sir" Jackson assured him as he rubbed the bridge of his nose under his glasses. "SG-1 can't keep bringing home strays. I want to bring her to the Mountain only long enough to get her medical attention." 

"Then what?" Hammond asked. 

"I'll take her to Kasuf," Daniel assured the general. "He'll take her in. We can't let her die, sir. Not for what Beiers did to her." 

Hammond nodded his agreement as he removed the watch from his wrist, his rank insignia from the collar of his shirt, and the pen from his pocket and handed them to Daniel. "My contribution," he explained before turning away to the phone on the wall. A moment later an announcement went out across the PA asking base personnel to bring whatever gold items they could to the commissary to buy the life of the young native woman. 

"Dr. Jackson," Harm called to the archaeologist as he too removed the gold from his uniform. Beside him Admiral Chegwidden was also removing the bits of yellow metal from his clothes. A glare from Rabb had Clayton sighing as he too began piling bits of gold into the hat Dr. Jackson was now using to hold the various items people were handing him. 

"Daniel, you have a go to return to get the girl as soon as you're ready," Hammond told him. "Colonel Coburn, you and your team are to go with him. I see Klein's injured. Do you need additional personnel?" 

"No, sir" Coburn replied before asking. "Sir? How are O'Neill and Carter doing?" 

"They'll be stabilized enough for transport early tomorrow afternoon," Jacob answered wearily as he joined the group standing in the corridor outside the infirmary. 

"Sir, request permission..." Coburn began only to be cut off by Hammond's raised hand. 

"Teal'c will lead the mission to the Asgard," Hammond answered in anticipation of Coburn's request. "Volunteers only. Whoever goes has to understand what they're getting into." 

"It's going to be bug central," Daniel murmured his agreement. 

"I understand the danger, sir, but I still want to volunteer," Coburn told his commander as his teammates nodded or murmured their assent as well. 

"Very well, gentlemen" Hammond said. "Spread the word. Anyone wishing to volunteer for this mission needs to be in the commissary in three hours. We'll brief then." 

"We'd better get moving then Daniel" Coburn ordered the archaeologist knowing that Daniel would be going with Teal'c. 

"Sirs, I'd like to volunteer to go along," Rabb said to the general and admiral in front of him. 

"We both do," Chegwidden agreed. 

"Gentlemen, I have no doubt you can handle yourself in combat, but..." Hammond began. 

"But nothing. O'Neill saved my life once. I owe him," Admiral Chegwidden told the general. "I'm going. Sounds like they could use a few extra bodies." 

"Will you follow Teal'c's orders?" Hammond asked. "Be very sure on this point because if you can't you'd be endangering the entire team." 

"Why Teal'c if I may ask, sir?" Rabb asked. "I understand he's a member of their team, but wouldn't somebody with more experience..." 

Hammond chuckled lightly. "Commander, how old would you say Teal'c is?" 

"Mid thirties maybe," Rabb replied. 

"Try one hundred and two as of next week," Hammond told him. "The symbiote he carries inside him gives him a long life. It heals his injuries and keeps him from getting sick. He's spent the majority of those hundred plus years in service to the Gao'uld as a warrior. He was First Prime to Apophis when he helped free SG-1 on their first mission." 

"And just what _** is**_ a First Prime?" Chegwidden asked. 

"The equivalent of the Chairman of the JCS," Hammond answered. "He commanded all of Apophis' armies." 

"I'll follow orders," Chegwidden decided as he eyed the big Jaffa who had resumed his watch by his friends' bedside. Rabb nodded as well. 

Hammond considered the two men before him for a minute before motioning to one of the guards that had been trailing the visitors around the mountain. "These gentlemen need to be outfitted for off-world travel," Hammond told him. "Get them down to the quartermaster. Make sure they get instruction on off-world procedures as well." 

"Yes, sir" the guard confirmed the order as he snapped off a salute to the general. 

Three hours later Chegwidden and Rabb, now dressed in BDUs, followed General Hammond and Teal'c into the commissary. The two naval officers were taken aback by the large number of personnel waiting within, but Hammond just sighed. Daniel left the table where he'd been sitting with SG-3 to join them with a bemused and touched smile on his face, and even Teal'c raised an eyebrow at the large number of volunteers.

"Okay, listen up," Hammond ordered in a booming voice. "I think you all realize I can't send all of you on this mission. Teal'c, pick a team of ten to accompany you plus General Carter, Dr. Jackson, Admiral Chegwidden, Commander Rabb, and Doctor Williams."

Teal'c bowed his head at the general and waded into the crowd of people in the commissary. He made a complete circuit of the room noting each face solemnly. When he returned to Hammond's side he informed Hammond in a voice loud enough for all to hear, "ColonelCoburn, MajorPrine, LieutenantChavez, PrivateGoshen, LieutenantAnetolli, LieutenantHailey, CorporalGranger, EnsignSchaefer, SergeantBrooks, and StaffSergeantRogers."

Hammond nodded knowing it was a good mix. Teal'c would have the skills he needed if something happened out there, and if things went bad he hadn't chosen anyone whose loss would cripple the SGC. The disappointed soldiers who had not been picked milled around the commissary offering their good luck wishes to those who had.

"GeneralHammond, with your permission?" Teal'c asked with a slight bow of his head. Hammond nodded. "Your attention please," he said raising his voice to be heard over the milling crowd. All eyes turned to listen as the Jaffa warrior began to speak. "Even though you have not been chosen to accompany us on our mission, there is something you can do to help ColonelO'Neill and MajorCarter," Teal'c told them. "We have reason to believe the NID may attempt to kidnap the children." Teal'c said no more. He didn't have to. Heads were nodding around the room. As Teal'c motioned his newly chosen team through the door they could hear plans already being formed for round the clock watch on the babies. 

General Hammond and Teal'c led the newly formed mission team into an empty conference room where they gathered around a conference table. General Hammond gestured for Teal'c to take command of the meeting 

"DanielJackson, ColonelCoburn, and his team will go to the Hall of Wisdom tomorrow in advance of our bringing O'Neill and MajorCarter through the Stargate," Teal'c explained. "DanielJackson will make contact with the Asgard and confirm that Thor is in position to bring us to his ship."

Daniel jumped in and continued, "We'll then contact Earth where Teal'c and the rest of you will be waiting with Jack and Sam. We'll bring them through to the Hall of Wisdom and let Thor do his thing."

"Sounds simple enough," Rabb commented. 

"What's the catch?" Chegwidden asked suspiciously.

"Thor's going to bring us to his ship," Daniel explained. "Which is on the front lines of their war with the Replicators."

"If the Replicators penetrate Thor's ship your chances of survival are..." Hammond paused trying to decide how best to describe it.

"Bad," Daniel supplied. "Very, very, bad." Daniel queued up the tape of the Replicators taken on the Russian submarine nearly two years ago. They watched mostly in silence as Daniel and Teal'c described what they might encounter from the creatures. 

"Anyone having any second thoughts?" Hammond asked when the tape was over.

"Second, third, fourth" Hailey admitted as she swallowed convulsively, "but I'm not going to change my mind, sir."

Hammond nodded as he noted the stubborn determination on the faces of the rest of the volunteers. "Alright," he said finally.

"AdmiralChegwidden, CommanderRabb, and LieutenantHailey" Teal'c said, "I would like the three of you to stay close together." He said it with such a lack of inflection that it was nearly impossible to decide why he had given that order. The two naval officers took one look at the pixie like lieutenant and assumed Teal'c wanted them to guard her physically. The spunky young lieutenant assumed that she was to keep the naval officers from getting into trouble because of their lack of off-world knowledge. In reality both answers were correct. He handed both naval officers a slip of paper. "Memorize those symbols before morning," he ordered them. "If you are separated from us for any reason you will need to know these symbols in this order to return through the Stargate. Do not take the paper with you."

Chegwidden and Rabb both nodded as they tucked the slips of paper away.

"Your GDO code for this mission is 42917," Hammond told them. "Don't write it down. Memorize it right now. If you can't remember it, the second and third sets of coordinates on that paper are to safe worlds that we have regular contact with. You may have a bit of a wait, but someone will find you there within a few weeks. If you don't return within twenty-four hours that code will be locked out of the base computer. At that point your only option will be the safe worlds. Any questions?" he asked. "Get a good night's sleep," Hammond ordered when no one voiced any questions. "Dr. Jackson and SG-3 will leave at 13:00 tomorrow."

"General Carter," Dr. Frasier told the former general. "I thought you'd want to be near Sam and the babies so I've had a bed set up for you in the infirmary."

"Thank you, Janet" he told her. "And as the godmother of my grandchildren, do you think you could bring yourself to call me Jacob?"

"I'll try to remember," she assured him with a smile.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning Rabb and the admiral stood in the control room with Clayton Webb and the two Air Force JAG's as Dr. Jackson and his team prepared to go through the Stargate on the first step of their mission. 

"I can't believe you put a civilian in charge of this mission, General!" Moore complained loudly. 

"Daniel is more than capable, General" Hammond assured the other man as he thought to himself, _'three star pain in the ass.'_

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed as he too watched his teammate lead SG-3 through the 'Gate. "DanielJackson is a formidable warrior for such a man of peace." 

"Please," Rivers snorted. "He's a geek!" Simmons seated at the controls to the Stargate couldn't quite control his own snort. "See. Your man agrees with me," Rivers said pointing to the technician. 

"Ahh...no sir I don't" Simmons told the officer. "Daniel's...well there's just no describing Daniel." 

Hammond chuckled. "Daniel is unique," he agreed. 

"So tell me something that will make Rivers feel better," Chegwidden demanded. 

Hammond thought hard for a minute before he began to relate stories of the exploits of SG-1. Teal'c and Simmons interjected comments occasionally as they all waited for Daniel to report. 

"That's not possible," Webb refuted as Hammond described Daniel's trip through he Quantum Mirror. 

"We've got security video of Dr. Carter and Colonel Kawalsky coming through it," Hammond told them as he explained their second experience with the Quantum Mirror. 

"So where is this mirror now?" Chegwidden demanded. 

"I ordered it destroyed," Hammond told them though he kept to himself the fact that the mirror hadn't been destroyed. After months of study, Carter had regretfully informed her superior officer that trying to destroy the mirror would be too dangerous. Hammond had been afraid of what havoc the NID could cause if they'd managed to get their hands on it. So it now rested in a storage room in the deepest parts of Cheyenne Mountain. He and SG-1 had personally welded an iris over the mirror before shutting it inside the storage room. They took turns checking on it so that hopefully no one would realize anyone regularly visited the storage room. "The danger was just too great to keep it around," Hammond told them. 

Simmons attention was drawn back to his console as something changed on his screen. "Incoming wormhole," he informed them needlessly. "Receiving IDC. It's Dr. Jackson." 

"Open the iris," Hammond ordered. 

"General Hammond, we're good to go," Daniel reported via his radio. 

"Very well," Hammond replied. "Secure the 'Gate, and you can expect Teal'c and his team shortly." 

"I hope this works, General" Webb commented as he watched the gurneys arrive in the embarkation room. 

"Why are they bundled up like that," Moore asked as he pointed to the where Dr. Frasier and her colleague Dr. Williams were preparing the two comatose officers for travel through the Stargate. 

"Going through the Stargate compresses the molecules in the body," Hammond explained. "It gets damned cold. The thermal sleeping bags won't be able to prevent that, but it should help them warm up when they reach the other end." Hammond reached forward and keyed the microphone. "Dr. Frasier, are your patients ready for transport?" 

"Yes, sir" she called up to the observation room. Hammond sighed. It was clear that she was more than a little disgruntled about being left behind. He had hoped Dr. Jackson had gotten through to her on that point at least. Hammond knew she and Sam were friends, but he couldn't in good conscience let a single mother volunteer for such a dangerous assignment. Especially knowing that if something went wrong she would become the sole guardian of J.D. and Gina as well. 

"Good luck, Teal'c" Hammond told the jaffa. "Simmons, start dialing." 

"Yes, sir" the chubby technician replied as the typed away at the keyboard in front of him. "Chevron one locked....chevron two....chevron three," he reported as the great stone ring whirled. 

Teal'c bowed and led the two navy officers down the stairs into the embarkation room where the rest of their team waited. As they entered the room Dr. Frasier was giving last minute instructions to her subordinate. 

"Chevron seven locked...wormhole engaged," Simmons reported through the PA. 

Teal'c raised his staff in farewell to those watching before leading his team through the Stargate. 

"Come on, sirs" Lieutenant Hailey encouraged the Rabb and Chegwidden as she adjusted the strap on one of the two P90's she carried. Rabb nodded and the three of them stepped through the Stargate last. 

"Jesus Christ!" Rabb swore as he stumbled from the wormhole.

"Easy, sirs" Hailey told them as they stood bent over in front of the Stargate. "The nausea will pass. Just take deep breathes. It won't be as bad next time," she glibly lied to them. 

Daniel walked back to the naval officers from where he and Teal'c had been in discussion with a group of the locals. "We're not taking the Stargate to the Asgard so you won't have to experience that again for a bit," he reassured them. "But we do need to move out."

Rabb nodded. As he straightened he prayed that the contents of his stomach would stay where they were. "You weren't kidding when you said it was worse than a ten G bombing run," he told the archaeologist.

Daniel smiled and gestured for them to walk with him.

"Where to now?" Chegwidden asked.

"Believe it or not, Admiral. We're headed for the village church," Daniel said. "There's an Asgard device hidden inside that will take us to their hall of wisdom. Thor will pick us up from there."

They followed the rest of the group into the church and watched as first Teal'c and Coburn touched the stone obelisk and disappeared followed by the rest in small groups. The soldiers carrying the stretchers discussed among themselves how best to make sure their charges went along with them for the ride before finally lifting the stretchers to rest on their shoulders and taking their patient's hand and touching the obelisk together.

"Our turn, sirs" Daniel told them as his hand hovered with Lieutenant Hailey's just above the alien device. Rabb and Chegwidden stepped forward and together the final four travelers touched the stone and were transported elsewhere.

"Wow!" Chegwidden whispered as he blinked to adjust his eyes to the darkness of the hall before him. He wandered forward into the hall behind Dr. Jackson until suddenly they were no longer in the darkened cave, but standing in front of a group of aliens that looked like they'd just stepped out of a Spielberg movie. 

"It's a hologram," Hailey whispered to the navy men. "We're still in the cave right now."

"Greetings, Daniel Jackson" one of the small gray aliens greeted them. "You are ready?"

"Yes, Thor. We're ready" he answered. 

No sooner had the words left his mouth then the entire group was engulfed in another flash of light.

"Now we're on Thor's ship," Hailey told them as the little gray alien bowed before the group.

"If you'll bring them this way," he said as he gestured down the corridor to their right with his spindly gray arm.

"He looks like a Roswell alien," Harm whispered.

"They keep an eye on Earth," Daniel told them. "The crash at Roswell was real, but there's nothing from it out at Area 51. They clean up after themselves pretty well. All the debris as well as the bodies were removed within five days. The government never found any trace of what happened to all of it. The cover up wasn't really about keeping the proof of aliens from the public. It was about not admitting to the public that they'd lost the proof," he explained.

Rabb allowed himself a small chuckle at that bit of irony. "The U.S. government is good at covering up things it's lost," he said with a trace of bitterness about his long search for his lost father.

"So what is out at Area 51?" Chegwidden asked. "If not alien artifacts."

"Oh there are alien artifacts out at Area 51," Daniel acknowledged. "Just not from the crash. The SGC has a research facility out there for the stuff we bring back. The original Stargate experiments were conducted there as well."

Their discussion ended as they entered a large chamber where several pods rested in a row along the wall. 

"If you will disconnect them from your devices and place them each in a pod," Thor requested.

Teal'c nodded to Dr. Williams who knelt first next to Colonel O'Neill and disconnected the IV from his forearm. As soon as the IV was gone Williams nodded to Chavez and Granger who gently transferred their charge into the nearest pod. Dr. Williams then knelt next to Major Carter and repeated the procedure. Brooks and Schaefer lifted her into the pod next to the one in which Colonel O'Neill rested.

"Now what, Thor?" Daniel asked. 

"Now we must wait, Dr. Jackson" the alien answered. "It will take several hours for their injuries to heal."

"Hours? But when you healed General Hammond in that alternate universe it took only seconds!" Daniel protested.

"I do not know of the incident of which you speak, Dr. Jackson" Thor told him. He listened patiently as Teal'c and Daniel told him of their mission through the Quantum Mirror. "This General Hammond's wounds were recent," Thor explained when they had finished their story. "Marjor Carter and O'Neill's wounds are several days old. It is much more difficult to repair injuries in this state." 

"Anybody bring a deck of cards?" Coburn asked as he hunkered down along the wall to wait. Most of the others copied him

"What is our position in regards to the Replicators?" Teal'c asked.

"Follow me," Thor commanded.

Dr. Jackson, Jacob Carter, and Teal'c shared a look before Daniel nodded for Teal'c and Jacob to go without him. He would keep watch on Sam and Jack while they spoke with Thor. Jacob and Teal'c were the military tacticians after all. Teal'c bowed his head before following the small alien out the door. Jacob squeezed Daniel on the shoulder before following as well.

"Go with them, Commander Rabb" Daniel suggested. "You're a fighter pilot, after all. I think you'll find it interesting."

Rabb looked at the admiral for permission before jogging after the other two men. He followed the three into another chamber where a display showed the Asgard fleet in relation to the Replicator fleet.

"That's pretty close, Thor" Jacob commented. 

"Yes, the information we were able to glean from the android SG-3 found has allowed us to develop a new weapon against the Replicators, but we must be very close for it to be effective," Thor explained. "We must draw very close to their ships before deploying the device. The fleet is currently in pursuit of this group of three Replicator ships." The display zoomed in to highlight the three ships in question. The Asgard fleet appeared to be closing quickly.

Teal'c nodded his understanding. "It is a dangerous tactic," he commented. "Will the Replicators not learn a counter tactic soon?"

"We fear so," Thor admitted. "That is one reason we have agreed to heal Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill. Major Carter's tactics have defeated the Replicators in the past. It is our hope that she will be able to help us again. The Replicators have already learned to keep enough distance from our ships to prevent the device from working." 

"How close are we talking here?" Harm asked. 

"Within 30,000 feet," Thor replied.

Jacob turned to Harm. "You've seen that movie 'Top Gun' haven't you, Commander?" he asked.

"I'm a naval aviator, sir" Harm answered with his trademark smirk. "It's required."

"Well in those terms, close enough to 'communicate'" Jacob explained. 

They watched in silence as the Asgard armada played a methodical cat and mouse game with the three Replicator ships over the course of the next forty minutes. Finally the Replicator ships were forced close enough to Thor's ship for him to activate the new weapon. The effect was instantaneous as they were rocked by the explosion of the Replicator ships. 

"Wow!" Jacob exclaimed. "That's some bug spray you've got there, Thor." 

"Bug spray, General Carter?" Thor asked forcing Jacob to take several minutes to explain exactly what he had meant. 

"Ummm....sir. What's that?" Rabb said as he pointed to a flashing portion of the display. 


	8. Chapter 8

Coburn and Chavez came jogging into the chamber a moment later. "What the Hell was that?" Coburn asked as he gasped for breath. 

"It appears that some of the Replicators survived the destruction of their ship," Thor said as is slender gray hands moved over the controls in front of him. "They have already begun to penetrate the outer hull." 

"How many are there?" Jacob asked. 

"Unknown, General Carter" Thor answered. 

"Can you direct us to their location?" Teal'c asked. "We must destroy them if at all possible." 

"Yes," Thor agreed. 

"CommanderRabb stay here and direct us to the Replicators via the radio," Teal'c ordered as he nodded for the others to head out. 

"But!" Rabb protested. 

"Stay here!" Jacob ordered as he raced out of the room after Teal'c and the others. 

A few seconds later Teal'c heard Rabb say over the radio, "Thor says at the next branch in the corridor turn left. They're about fifty meters down after that." 

"Understood," Teal'c replied into the mic attacked to his vest before pointing Chavez to his side of the corridor and Jacob and Coburn to the other. The four men advanced cautiously down the corridor watching for signs of the Replicators. They didn't have to wait long. About twenty five meters down the corridor instead of the fifty Thor had said they first came across the Replicators and opened fire. The four men were able to advance no more than another ten meters towards the point where the Replicators had breached the inner hull to enter the ship. "Fall back!" Teal'c ordered upon seeing the Replicators dropping from a hole in the ceiling like rain falling from the sky. "We cannot hold them," he reported into the radio. "We are returning to your position." 

"Understood, sir" they heard Rabb confirm through the radio. They fell back in relays closing off the sections of the ship as they went hoping to slow the Replicator's advance. Jacob and Teal'c left Coburn and Chavez to hold the corridor as they returned to the control room where Thor and Rabb were monitoring the progress of the Replicators. Harm turned as they entered the room. "Sir, we've got two more breaches aft of the rest of our team!" he immediately reported as he pointed to two positions on the ship display hovering in the air. 

Teal'c keyed his radio. "DanielJackson, Replicators have penetrated the ship near your position," he told his teammate. "Close the emergency bulkheads." 

"Right, Teal'c" they heard Jackson confirm through their radios. 

"Thor, I don't want to be on here when the Replicators run out of inanimate things to eat," Jacob said. "How do we get off this ship?" 

"All Asgard vessels have recently been equipped with a Stargate," Thor said as he manipulated the controls on the display to bring up a close up view of the area in question. "We are here. The chamber containing the Stargate is here," he explained indicating a chamber a few hundred yards from where they were at. 

"Will not the power to the Stargate fail as the Replicators destroy the ship?" Teal'c questioned. 

"No, Teal'c" Thor said. "We have learned from our last shared encounter with the Replicators. The Stargate on this ship is on an independent power supply." 

"Don't suppose this ship has an auto-destruct?" Rabb asked facetiously. 

"Of course, Commander," Thor told him. 

"Great!" Rabb said. "So we get Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter out of the pods, set the auto-destruct, and 'Gate the Hell off this ship." 

"Unfortunately, we cannot remove Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill from the pods yet," Thor informed them. "They are at a delicate stage in the healing. To remove them now would mean their deaths." 

"Then we will simply take their pods with us as we did you," Teal'c announced. 

"I had already disconnected my pod from the main system and put it in portable mode before entering it," Thor told him. 

"And that's not the case here?" Jacob asked with a sigh though he was pretty sure he knew the answer already. 

"No it is not," Thor said. "The healing will take another twenty minutes before they can be removed from the pods safely." 

"So we hold the chambers where the pods and the Stargate are and the corridor in between," Jacob suggested. 

"Indeed," Teal'c replied. 

"Okay, Teal'c. I'll take the chamber with the pods" Jacob decided. "I'll keep Williams, Brooks, and Daniel with me and send the rest to you." 

"I will guide Teal'c to the Stargate chamber then return to the medical chamber to monitor O'Neill and Major Carter," Thor agreed. 

"Have AdmiralChegwidden take a team and hold the corridor," Teal'c ordered as Thor led Teal'c, Coburn, Rabb, and Chavez in the direction of the Stargate. 

Jacob nodded as he headed in the direction opposite the others with his P90 firmly in his hands with the safety off. He was met by Chegwidden and three of the others just before he reached the medical chamber.

"We got about 500 meters that direction before running into the Replicators," Chegwidden informed him as he pointed back down the corridor. "We've secured all the bulkheads to that point. Now how the Hell do we get off this thing?" he asked as they rejoined Daniel and the others in the medical chamber.

Jacob noted that no one was playing cards now. Everyone but Williams who was busily worrying over his patients had their weapons out and were scanning the surrounding walls. Jacob motioned them all close and explained the situation.

"Twenty minutes? Oh man this is not good," Brooks said skillfully imitating one of his favorite movies. "This is not good."

"Ripley isn't here to save our asses," Chegwidden said surprising the others that he'd caught the joke. "We're going to have to do it ourselves."

"It'll take the Replicators several hours to eat enough of this ship for us to be in any danger. We just need to keep them away from the Stargate and this chamber," Daniel assured him.

"And hold the corridor between them," Jacob added. "Admiral Chegwidden, I'm going to keep Daniel, Williams, and Brooks with me. Take the rest and hold the corridor."

Chegwidden nodded then with a jerk of his head lead the rest of the soldiers into the corridor. "You, you, you, and you," he ordered pointing to each man in turn. "Spread out down the corridor at fifty foot intervals. Stay in visual contact with the person on either side of you. No heroic shit. Hailey stick close to me."

"Sir," she confirmed as she moved down the corridor the prescribed fifty feet staying within visual of the admiral and Corporal Granger. 

Within minutes Thor joined the small group of nervous Tau'ri in the medical chamber. He wasted no time going to the pods in which O'Neill and Carter rested. Jacob was immediately at the small alien's side. "Thor, can you do anything to speed this up?" he asked gesturing towards the two occupied pods as the dull clicking of the Replicators moving around inside the bulkhead reverberated throughout the room.

"The stasis pods were not designed with human physiology in mind, General Carter," Thor answered. "However, I believe I can abort the last step in the healing process without causing harm to your daughter or O'Neill."

"Do it," Jacob ordered.

"They will be very weak," Thor warned. "As the last step in the healing process is the replenishment of the nutrients used earlier."

"Will they be conscious and able to walk?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, though they may require aide," Thor answered.

"Then do it," Daniel said.

Thor nodded and began moving the rock-like controls over the instrument panel on Carter's pod.


	9. Chapter 9

When she opened her eyes to find her father leaning over her holding her hand, Sam was surprised to realize she was alive. "Dad?" she asked.

"We're on Thor's ship, baby" he told her answering one of the many questions he was sure she had. "We brought you and Jack here so he could heal you, but we've run into a little problem so we had to pull you out early. Your injuries are healed, but you're going to be weak as Hell." Jacob paused to take a breath. Before he could explain to Sam just what the problem was, she lunged for the handgun holstered at her father's side.

She had it out and had emptied the entire clip at the Replicator emerging from a hole in the ceiling before anyone had time to react. "Heads UP!" she screamed as she pulled herself from the pod only to collapse beside it when her legs wouldn't support her. She scanned her surroundings not bothering to try again to stand. "Where's Jack?" she demanded.

"In that pod," Daniel said pointing to the pod next to the one she had just exited. "We need another three minutes before we can pull him out." 

Sam nodded as she ejected the clip from her borrowed weapon and accepted the ones her father handed her. She shook her head when he bent to help her stand. "No," she said knowing she needed to conserve her strength for when it was time to move. "Leave me here for now. The babies?" she questioned.

"They're fine," Jacob assured her. "J.D. had some burns from the blast you took, but I was able to heal them. They're gorgeous, Sam," he told his daughter as he reached into his pocket and pulled several photos from within. 

Sam nearly wept when he handed them to her. She studied them carefully for a moment before tucking them safely into the pocket of the shirt someone had dressed her in. _'Trust Janet,' _Sam thought. _'To remember to put us in BDU's instead of sending us through in hospital gowns.'_ Sam knew now wasn't the time to be distracted with Replicators eating the ship from around them. She would see her children soon enough. "Where's Teal'c?" she asked Daniel.

"He's got a group holding the Stargate," her father told her. "And one of Jack's old black ops buddies has got a group holding the corridor in between."

Sam nodded her understanding then turned to the thin gray alien monitoring the pod in which O'Neill still rested. "Thank you, Thor" she told him. 

"My people owe much to you and Colonel O'Neill," Thor told her. A moment later his slim fingers moved across the controls of the pod and the lid opened with a slight hiss.

Daniel leaned down into the pod and lightly touched Jack's shoulder. "Wakey, wakey, Jack" he commanded but got no response.

"Wakey, wakey?" Sam laughed knowing Daniel was trying to lighten the moment before barking, "Jack O'Neill, move your ass! We've gotta get out of here."

"Sam!" Jack gasped as he attempted to sit up. He groaned at the weakness he felt, but managed to pull himself from the pod with Daniel's help. "Daniel? What..." he questioned as he sagged against his teammate.

"Greetings, O'Neill" Thor said.

"Thor, my good buddy!" Jack shouted happily. "Doc! Jacob!" he greeted the other two men as he staggered over to where Sam sat and helped her to her feet. 

"Yeah. Hi Jack," Jacob growled. "Now that you've said hello to everybody can we get the Hell out of here?" he demanded as he depressed the trigger on the P-90 he carried and let loose a flurry of bullets at the now much larger hole in the ceiling where more Replicators were emerging.

"Fuck!" Jack exclaimed and managed to straighten as the adrenaline began to pump into him. Daniel un-holstered his own handgun and handed it to Jack who grimaced but took it knowing that like Sam he just didn't have the strength to manage the heavier machine gun and keep himself upright at the same time. As it was he and Sam had one arm loosely wrapped around one another's waist helping each other stand.

"Move as fast as you can, kids" Jacob ordered, "and let the rest of us worry about the Replicators."

Sam and Jack both nodded. "Williams forget that crap," Jack ordered noticing the doctor working to repack his supplies. 

"But we might need it! And this is expensive equipment," the young doctor argued pointing to the various monitors Sam and Jack had been attached to when they'd arrived.

"Take the kit," Sam said pointing to the unopened pack of medical supplies. "Leave the machines. They're not worth as much as our lives." She and Jack didn't wait to see if the young doctor had followed their instructions. They half-ran, half-staggered into the corridor with Jacob and Daniel on either side. Thor led the way, and Brooks covered the rear. Williams wasted no time following as the first Replicator dropped to the floor of the chamber a few feet away from him. 

"A.J.?" Jack questioned as they came around a turn in the corridor to the point where the admiral had stationed himself.

"Jack!" Chegwidden shouted slapping the other man on the back as he and Sam followed Thor down the corridor towards the Stargate. "This is twice you owe me," he said.

"What the Hell are you doing here?" Jack gasped as he turned to fire at a Replicator that emerged from one of the side corridors. 

Chegwidden turned and let loose a small barrage of bullets down the corridor keeping the Replicators at bay until everyone had made it past. Though no order was given the humans began retreating in relay down the corridor with a group of two laying down cover fire for the rest. As Chegwidden retreated back he said, "Your friend Maybourne got a message to me saying you could use some help."

"You? Why would Harry go to you?" Jack asked.

"Cause you're being court-martialed, son" A.J. informed the younger man. "For fraternization. He also said the NID were after your kids."

"JAG lawyer and ex-Navy SEAL," Jack told Sam. "Makes sense. Two birds with one stone."

She wasn't paying attention to that though. "What do you mean the NID are after our kids?!" she screamed.

"Harcesis, Sam" Daniel explained as he grabbed her elbow to help steady her when she faltered. "They must think J.D. and Gina are Harcesis."

"Later," Jack ordered as he ejected an empty clip and slammed a full one into his weapon in its place. "First we get back to Earth, then we worry about the rest."

Sam nodded as they continued down the corridor.

"Teal'c," Daniel said into the radio attached to his vest. "We're on our way. Start dialing out."

"Understood, DanielJackson" they heard Teal'c reply. In the background they could here the sound of machine gun fire. "What is the condition of MajorCarter and O'Neill?"

Jack leaned forward and keyed the radio, "We'll live Teal'c." As they approached the chamber that held the Stargate they encountered increasing resistance from the Replicators. They reached the chamber in time to see the event horizon blossom into existence inside the stone ring. "That's got to be the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time!" Jack said. He let another empty clip clatter to the ground and slammed another into place as they watched Teal'c send the IDC signal. "Except for you," he added to Sam as he leaned in and stole a kiss. There was no point in hiding that they were now lovers, after all. 

As soon as their signal was acknowledged they fell back through the Stargate. When they emerged on the other side they were surprised by the expressions on the faces of those who waited at the bottom of the ramp. 

Sam and Jack both felt their insides clench as the SF's and others in the room refused to meet their eyes. General Hammond stepped forward, but before he could say anything Sam demanded, "Where are my children?" 

Hammond minced no words. "There was an assault on the infirmary," he said. "We've got four dead and another five wounded. J.D. and Gina are missing."

To say that Jack caught Sam as she fell would be a misnomer. The truth was closer to being that Jack controlled their fall as together they sank to their knees on the ramp.

"We'll get them back," Daniel vowed as he knelt next to his friends. Jacob knelt too and pulled both of them into his embrace as Teal'c stood close like an ever present guardian.


	10. Chapter 10

"Colonel O'Neill. Major Carter," General Moore said.

"Not now you ass!" Chegwidden snarled as Sam and Jack continued to kneel in a daze on the ramp of the Stargate.

Colonel Rivers obviously had a stunted sense of self-preservation because he didn't take Admiral Chegwidden's warning to heart. "Airman," he ordered. "Take Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter to a holding cell."

Dr. Williams objected, "The only place they're going is back to the infirmary."

"Screw that," Sam growled. "You're not locking us up, and we're not going to the infirmary. We're going to find our children!"

"Can you even stand, Major?" Dr. Williams asked. The tone of his voice implying that he knew very well the answer to his question. 

"We've been worse," Jack argued helping Sam to her feet. Everyone in the room could see that they were kept upright by sheer force of will more than anything else. "We're going after our kids!" 

"You're running on adrenaline," Williams said patiently. "And as soon as it wears off, you're going to crash. I need to get you on IV fluids to replace the nutrients you lost."

"Where's Janet?" Sam demanded. "She'll...oh God..." Sam moaned as she realized that her friend would most likely have been in the infirmary during the attack. "Janet?" she asked Hammond.

"She's in surgery at the academy hospital now," the general said confirming her fears. "Her chances are good. Your friend, Webb, was taken there as well, gentlemen," he told the Navy officers.

"Is anyone with Cassie?" Daniel asked.

"We haven't told her yet," Hammond said. 

"Sir, permission to get Cassie and go to the hospital," Daniel requested. 

General Hammond nodded but added, "Not until you've had your post-mission physical. That goes for everyone." His glare brought even O'Neill and Carter into unwilling submission. "Nobody does anything or goes anywhere until the post-mission physicals are done," he reiterated when it looked like Commander Rabb was about to object.

"Yes, sir" the returning team chorused. 

Daniel moved toward Jack to help him from the room but stopped at the slight shake of General Hammond's head. Daniel nodded his understanding. It would be a matter of pride with Sam and Jack that they walk unassisted to the infirmary. Instead he fell into step beside his friends as General Hammond and the two Air Force JAGs walked with them as well.

"It was a well planned attack," Hammond informed them as they walked. "Two had zats, and the other two had silenced glocks. We haven't figured out how they got into the mountain. We've got four people still unaccounted for."

"Either they were in on it or they're dead," Jack said. "Zats," he murmured.

"Do we know if the Russians got their hands on any zats while their Stargate was operational?" Sam asked. 

"According to the records they turned over, no they didn't" Daniel answered. "But..."

"But that doesn't mean anything," Jack agreed as they turned the corner into the infirmary. "I think the NID's a more likely suspect."

"We'll start with you, Dr. Williams," Dr. Warner announced as he approached them. It was obvious from his appearance that he'd been in the infirmary at the time of the attack. The right side of his face was already turning a lovely shade of purple, and his eye had swollen shut. His arm was strapped to his chest in a sling. "Once I'm done with you, you can help with the other exams."

"Why don't you let me heal those injuries, Doctor?" Jacob suggested. After receiving a nod in answer Jacob pulled the healing device from his pocket. 

"Major Carter. Colonel O'Neill," Nurse Thea Allison said. "If you'll come with me? Dr. Frasier..." she took a deep breath before continuing. "Dr. Frasier thought you'd really want a shower when you got back so we got some things ready for you. You can use the showers in the locker room through there."

"Someone needs to stay with them, Thea" Williams ordered from where he sat on the gurney letting another nurse draw blood. "I don't want them passing out and getting a concussion on top of everything else."

"Yes, sir" Nurse Allison acknowledged the order as she ushered the two exhausted soldiers into the locker room. "My mother is a beautician. I used to help her in her shop. If you'd like, I can...."

Jack didn't let her complete her offer before accepting it gratefully. "God, yes!" Jack said as he gave her a sloppy wet kiss. "A haircut!" 

Thea laughed quietly as she handed each of them a plastic basket full of soap, shampoo, and other products. "I'll wait out here," she said.

"We don't need..." Jack started to protest.

"Don't get her in trouble, Jack" Sam warned tiredly as she began to tug off her clothes. "Besides if you piss her off we won't get our haircuts." 

That shut him up. Not so much what she said as the expression on her face. He didn't say anything more until they were in the shower. With the steaming hot water pouring down on them and Thea considerately waiting outside the shower Jack held Sam tightly too him and whispered, "It's going to be okay, Sam. Danny's right. We're going to get them back." They clung to each other as they cried in relief for their freedom and in fear for their children. The noise from the shower only partially masked the sound of their crying, but Thea sat completely still giving them at least the illusion of privacy.

"You ready for that haircut, Colonel?" Thea called when ten minutes later they still hadn't emerged from the shower. She knew they needed this time alone before they faced what was to happen next, but she also realized that she couldn't keep everyone out for much longer.

"Give us another couple minutes," O'Neill requested, and if his voice was thick from the tears he had shed, he knew that Thea would never say. "Turn around," he commanded as he followed Sam from the showers a few minutes later wrapped only in a towel.

"Colonel, I've been your nurse for seven years now. There isn't anything you've got that I haven't seen," she said as she traded an amused look with Sam. "Who's first?" she asked holding up scissors and comb. Sam didn't even bother to dress. She simply sat down in the chair Thea indicated and gave herself over to the woman's ministrations while still wrapped only in the towel. 

"Where are our clothes?" Jack demanded a moment later when he realized the BDUs they'd been wearing had been removed and the hated hospital scrubs left in their place.

"Sorry, sir" Thea said as she continued to snip at Sam's hair. Daniel slipped into the room in time to hear her say, "Dr. Williams says to put those on."

"Damn it!" Jack growled grabbing for the scrubs. He stopped abruptly though and his hand hovered above them as he caught sight of the photos Thea had taken from the pocket of the BDU's Sam had been wearing. With a hand that shook slightly, Jack picked up the photos and began leafing through them.

"You're not going to do them any good if you collapse, Jack. You can barely walk without assistance as it is. Let the doctor put you on the IV and get some sleep while you can," Daniel said quietly.

"I'll never be able to sleep," Sam said rejecting the idea as Thea gently pushed her head down to cut the back of her hair. 

"Let him give you a sedative then," Daniel urged. "Sam, you need to be thinking clearly."

"Yeah, we heard," Jack snarled. "We're being court-martialed."

"It's a bull shit charge, Jack" Daniel agreed, "but you're going to have to deal with it before you can be free to find the kids." Daniel paused giving Thea a considering look before saying, "I'm going to get Cassie now. Is there a message you'd like me to send to 'Starsky', Jack?"

Jack's head came up at that, and he too turned to look at Thea. "Want me to leave the room?" she asked.

"No, that won't be necessary," Jack answered. "Send G. Gordon a message at the same place. Say..."

"Need more breadcrumbs," Sam supplied. 

Jack nodded. "Sign it Hoover," he added.

"Got it," Daniel assured them. He gave Jack a squeeze on the shoulder and Sam a kiss on the cheek along with a few whispered words of encouragement then left.


	11. Chapter 11

Three hours later, Dr. Frasier walked into her infirmary under her own power thanks to the arrival of Jacob Carter and Dr. Williams at the academy hospital along with the small alien healing device. The hospital personnel had been upset about the 'transfer', but Dr. Williams had overruled them with General Carter's help. While Jacob had healed them each as soon as they'd gotten to the hospital, the 'injured' personnel had maintained the illusion in front of the academy personnel and been brought back to Cheyenne Mountain via ambulance. "Where?" Janet demanded as she strode into the infirmary at a brisk clip. Dr. Williams led the other now healed soldiers to another quiet corner where he could examine them before giving them the all clear to return to duty or go home. Jacob also broke away briefly to call General Hammond's office to inform him of their return. 

Thea looked up at her superior officer from over the rim of her glasses. She put down the magazine she'd been reading as she gestured to the curtained off alcove near where she sat. Rising from her seat she grabbed two charts before following the doctor. Janet quietly pulled back the curtain to reveal the sleeping forms of Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter.

"What the Hell are they doing in the same bed?" a voice behind them asked. They turned to see all four attorneys along with General Hammond and Teal'c enter the room. As soon as he'd received the all clear from Williams, Clayton Webb drew Chegwidden and Rabb aside for a whispered conversation before leaving the room with his ever present shadow, the SG guard, following him.

"It was Dr. Warner's considered professional opinion that having spent the last fifteen months totally dependent on one another not only physically but emotionally and mentally, separating them would cause undue emotional and mental stress," Thea explained before adding, "especially now." No one in the room needed to be told what she meant by that, and no one, not even Moore and Rivers, had the courage to disagree. "Their blood work came back," Thea informed the two doctors as she handed each of them a chart. "Daniel talked them into letting Dr. Warner give them a sedative before he went to get Cassie." 

Jacob looked at the two doctors analyzing the charts as they commented back and forth quietly. After a moment though he turned his attention to the two figures on the bed. Sam and Jack lay facing one another on the narrow hospital bed. Sam's arm rested naturally in the slight hollow of Jack's waist while his rode higher on her hip. Both of their arms sported IV's and on each of their hands an electronic monitor had been clipped to the index finger. He gently brushed the now neatly trimmed hair from his daughter's face content to just look at her. For fifteen months he'd believed her dead along with Jack O'Neill. He thanked God for giving her back to him yet again and prayed that the cost wouldn't be paid in the lives of his grandchildren. Noticing that Dr. Williams had taken his leave, Jacob asked, "Janet?"

"It's what we expected, Jacob," she told the former general. "The malnutrition they returned with is worse. Clinically, they're at the point of starvation now. Dr. Warner's already started them on IV treatment, but we're going to have to monitor them very carefully for at least several weeks."

"Now wait a second!" Moore objected. "That alien, Thor, was supposed to heal them!"

"He did," Jacob agreed. "But we had to pull them out before it was done."

"The nutrients to heal them came from their own bodies," Janet explained. "The last step in the healing process was to have been replenishing those nutrients. Since that step didn't happen, we have to do it the old fashioned way."

"And the old fashioned way is?" Hammond asked.

"We keep them on the IV and dictate every bit of food and drink they get," Janet said. "Colonel O'Neill will recover quicker than Major Carter because of the anemia. I can treat the colonel's with blood transfusions, but Sam...."

"Can't take blood transfusions from others because of the protein in her blood," Hammond finished. "You've used up the supply of her own blood we'd banked?"

"Yes, sir" Janet confirmed. "In the surgery..."

Hammond nodded.

Before anyone could ask any other questions a distraught Cassandra Frasier ran into the infirmary with a winded Daniel Jackson on her heels. "Mom!" she cried as she launched herself into the petite doctor's arms. "Daniel came and got me and we went to the hospital, but you weren't there," Cassie explained with words that ran together in her excitement and fear.

"Jacob came and got us," Janet said soothingly as she stroked her daughter's hair. "He healed all of us. I'm fine, sweetie. I'm fine."

"Does this teenager have the run of the base?" Moore demanded of Hammond.

"No," General Hammond replied shortly. "She has access to the base when accompanied by her mother or another base personnel. Generally for the purpose of seeing to her medical needs. Because of the naquadah in her blood she can't be seen by doctors outside of the SGC."

"She's the child O'Neill and his team rescued?" Chegwidden guessed as his appraising gaze swept over the healthy young woman.

"Yes," Hammond confirmed. "She's grown into quite a lovely young lady. She'll start at the academy next year," he added with more than a trace of pride in his voice.

Cassandra stepped back from her mother's embrace to get a better look at her mother. "I'm fine," Janet said yet again. Cassandra gave her mother one last considering look before turning her attention to the couple sleeping on the bed. "They'll be fine too," Janet assured her daughter. "They're still a bit sick, but nothing that we can't make better."

"What about the babies?" Cassie asked. 

"We're going to get them back," Daniel said repeating the same assurance he'd given her several times since telling her what had happened to her mother.

"When will they wake up?" Cassie asked as she stood next to Jacob who put his arm around her. In the past when he'd visited his daughter he'd gotten to know Cassie well and accepted her as a surrogate granddaughter.

"Not for at least twelve hours," Janet answered as she came to stand on the other side of her daughter.. "Which means that you and Daniel should get some sleep, Jacob."

"Only if you take your own advice," he bargained. "I healed your wounds, but you still lost a lot of blood, Janet. You need to get some sleep."

"I'm..." she began to protest.

"**_I'm_ **making that an order," Hammond interjected. "All of you get some rest."


	12. Chapter 12

When A.J. entered the infirmary the next morning he noted that Teal'c and Dr. Jackson were already there and had been for some time if the stubble on Jackson's jaw was any indication. The two men sat in chairs by the bed where Samantha Carter still slept in the arms of Jack O'Neill. At some time in the night their positions had changed so that now they lay spooned together with Jack's arms wrapped securely around Carter.

"Rough night?" A.J. asked quietly as he pulled a chair up beside the other two men. There were deep bags beneath O'Neill's eyes.

"The sedatives wore off about 2 am," Jack murmured quietly as he continued to stroke the blonde hair of the woman in his arms. "Nightmares started almost right away. They gave Sam the wrong sedative. She was having flashbacks for hours."

"Wrong sedative?" Rabb asked quietly as he approached the bed.

"Sam has some strange drug reactions because of the changes in her body chemistry," Daniel explained in a quiet whispered so as not to wake the woman in question. "There's this one sedative that seems to bring out Jolinar's memories in full force."

"She was reliving Jolinar's mission to Netu," Jack mumbled. "And ours."

Daniel closed his eyes and his shoulder's slumped as he muttered, "Christ!"

Rabb opened his mouth to ask, but a barely perceptible shake of the head from the stoic jaffa changed his mind. Looking into Teal'c's eyes Harm decided he would have to ask the jaffa later. 

"Daniel and Teal'c have been getting me caught up on current events. I can't believe some of what they're telling me," Jack said abruptly changing the subject.

A.J. nodded. "I never would have believed it a year ago," he said. "Government's been gutted like a fish."

"SenatorKinsey doubtlessly believes that the current state of your government is to his advantage," Teal'c noted.

A.J. nodded his agreement. "Listen, Jack" A.J. said before hesitating slightly over what he wanted to say next. "I know you want to go after your kids right now, but we need to move carefully. If we spook them, the NID could decide to make the evidence disappear."

Jack closed his eyes tightly trying to banish the images Chegwidden's words conjured in his mind. His arms tightened around Sam for a moment before he forced himself to relax, afraid he would wake her.

"Can you get our trial moved to D.C.?" Sam asked startling all five men who hadn't realized she had woken.

"Why move it?" A.J. asked. "We're going to get it thrown out."

"No," Sam disagreed. "As long as we're on trial, Kinsey will have a false sense of safety."

"Then why move the trial at all, Sam?" Daniel asked.

"Because Kinsey's an egotistical son of a bitch. The twins aren't just a scientific curiosity to him," Sam explained. "They're trophies. They're proof that he finally beat the SGC and, more importantly I think in his mind, Colonel Jack O'Neill."

"He'll want them close. He'll want to see them as he gloats," A.J. agreed having met Kinsey at political functions in D.C. 

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "SenatorKinsey was greatly angered at you, O'Neill."

"Yeah, well I wasn't too thrilled with him either," Jack muttered darkly. "And that was before he took my kids."

"He'll have them somewhere near D.C." Sam said in the rigidly controlled voice of someone whose emotions were just barely under control. "So we need to get to D.C. while still making it look like we're clueless as to where our children might be."

"G. Gordon left a message at my apartment last night," Daniel said pulling a stack of papers from inside his coat pocket.

Sam managed to grab them before anyone else. She was already reading the first page as she pushed herself to an upright position on the bed. Jack grabbed her hand moving the paper slightly to the side so he could read over her shoulder. "It's the luds from Kinsey's phones. Home, office, cell" she told the men seated by their bedside. 

"Lot of calls in the last couple days to...Alexandro Rivera...I don't know that international code," Jack mumbled.

"Portugal," Sam supplied. "Daniel, I need a computer."

"Be right back," he said as he vacated his seat.

"Anything else?" Harm asked.

Sam rifled through the pages. "A note," she answered. "Still looking for more breadcrumbs. G. Gordon."

"I have a feeling we don't want to know who G. Gordon is?" Chegwidden asked.

Jack looked his old friend in the eye. "Probably not," he agreed just as Daniel jogged back into the infirmary with a laptop under his arm.

"Excuse me, sirs" Daniel said as he shimmied by the two Navy officers and knelt down to plug in the laptop.

"Infirmary beds with data connections?" Rabb asked as he noticed Daniel plugging the laptop into a network outlet.

From the doorway into the infirmary Janet explained, "Those are Daniel and Sam's beds. The medical staff lobbied a few years ago to get network access in here. They're much better patients when they're not bored out of their minds." 

"You have your own beds in the infirmary?" Harm asked incredulously.

"Well, no. Not really," Daniel denied.

"Not officially anyway," Janet corrected with a smirk as Cassie set the bag she'd been carrying down at her feet. "Colonel. Sam. We have something for you." Reaching into the bag she handed them each a beautifully wrapped package. "From the medical staff, but Cassie did all the work," she told them. 

Jack watched as Sam opened the package in her hands first. Inside she found a baby book intricately embossed with the name 'Jacob Daniel O'Neill.' Sam looked expectantly over at the package in Jack's hands. Following her unspoken request, Jack hastily unwrapped the second package to reveal another book similar to the first with 'Georgiana Tia O'Neill' on its cover. Sam opened the book in her hands to find a sheet of paper with all of J.D.'s birth statistics on it. 

"I thought about writing it in for you, but then Mom said you might want to have it in your own handwriting," Cassie explained. "I did put the pictures in though. I was afraid they'd fall out otherwise."

"This is..." Jack murmured as he opened the book in his hands to find Gina's birth statistics listed on an identical sheet of paper. He carefully set the paper aside and turned the page looking at the pictures of his daughter. 

"Thank you," Sam told the teenager unable to hide the tears shimmering in her eyes.

They looked through the books for almost half an hour before Harm regretfully said, "General Moore and Colonel Rivers are going to be in here in an hour to question you. We need to discuss what you're going to say to them."

Jack nodded and handed the baby book in his hand to Sam who carefully laid both of them on the table beside their bed. "I'll go first," he said. 

Rabb nodded as he pulled out a pad of paper and pen and began asking questions. Sam kept half her attention on the conversation as her hands flew across the keyboard as she searched for clues to who Alexandro Rivera was and where Kinsey and the NID could be keeping her children. 

She interrupted their conversation several minutes later with a string of swear words that made even Teal'c arch an eyebrow upward. 

"Major Carter?" Admiral Chegwidden asked.

"Alexandro Rivera is _Doctor _Alexandro Rivera," Sam said as she continued to type away on the computer. "He entered the United States three days ago through Dulles."

"What kind of doctor, Sam?" Daniel asked.

"A medical researcher," Janet told them in a hushed voice. "He's had his license revoked here in the States. It was a pretty big scandal a few years ago."

"What was a scandal?" Harm asked.

Janet shot a look at Sam whose hands had stilled on the keyboard. Her face had drained of all color. She wasn't the only one to notice Sam's paleness though. Jack turned the screen on the laptop so he could see what Sam had read and when he did his face paled as well. Both of his arms came up to wrap tightly around Sam. Jack's jaw tightened noticeably before he forced himself to answer, "Human experimentation." As soon as he'd said it Jack found his gaze being drawn to the two books on the bedside table. 


	13. Chapter 13

Hours later as the 'discussion' about moving the trial of Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter to Washington D.C. had reached a new decibel level the klaxons blared announcing the activation of the Stargate. The group seated around the defendants' bedside largely ignored it though.

"Look, General," Chegwidden said sharply. "I need to get back to Washington, and I would hazard a guess, so do you. Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill have agreed. General Hammond has, in fact, requested the trial be moved for the sake of base morale."

"We're here. The witnesses are here. The trial should be here," Moore retorted.

"Witnesses?" Harm protested. "How many witnesses do you think there are going to be at this trial? Other than Teal'c, Dr. Jackson, General Carter, and Major Frasier."

"Well..." Rivers said stalling for time as he tried to come up with an answer.

He might have said more if Frasier hadn't come out her office just then screaming for various personnel. 

"Doc?" Jack called. When she turned the expression on her face told them more than words ever could that whatever was going on, it was bad.

She looked at Daniel when she answered though. "It's Abydos," she told them. "Anubis sent an attack force through the 'Gate. Your boys managed to repel the attack, but they've got heavy casualties. Skaara asked for medical aid. General Hammond's given permission to bring them through."

"Skaara asked?" Daniel asked. The expression in his eyes begged her not to confirm what he already suspected, that another part of his family was being taken away.

"I'm sorry, Daniel" she told him as she took hold of his arm. "Kasuf's hurt, but I can't tell you how bad."

"Danny," Jack said quietly bringing his friend out of the stupor he was rapidly falling into. "They're going to need you in the 'Gate room to translate. You'll need to reassure the wounded as they come through."

Daniel nodded numbly as he turned and left the room.

Jack jerked his head towards the door in a silent request that really wasn't needed. Teal'c bowed his head and followed his teammate out the door. Jack watched him go then turned his attention to the IV in his arm. Sam smacked his hand away before he could pull it out himself. She grabbed the IV bag she was connected to and walked to the cart along the wall. Quickly extracting what she wanted she returned to his side and made quick work of removing the IV. She pressed a swab over the site of the bleeding for a moment. Once she was sure the bleeding had stopped she put a band-aid on it then presented her own arm to O'Neill.

"What are you doing?" Janet demanded as she looked away from directing her staff.

"You're going to need the bed, Doc" Jack told her as he pulled the IV from Sam's arm. "And every pair of hands you can get."

"You're not..." Janet started to disagree.

"Plus Daniel's taught Jack and I to speak Abydonian. At least a little bit anyway," Sam interrupted. "You're going to need us to translate and hold hands."

Janet nodded her acquiescence. Even as she did so she knew this wasn't a good idea, but she also knew that fighting with the two stubborn officers was wasting precious seconds she didn't have. "Fine. Whatever. Leave the heavy lifting to the orderlies," she commanded sternly as she wagged a finger at each of them before turning back to the preparation of the infirmary. 

"Janet," Jacob Carter called as he jogged into the infirmary. "I was in with George when the call for help came through. Selmak and I'll do what we can with the healing device."

Janet nodded. "Okay, Jacob. They're going to be triaging people down in the Gate room. The walking wounded are going to the auxiliary infirmary on level 32. Everyone else is coming up here. Anyone with a black tag is someone we can't help with normal means. Concentrate on them," she ordered the former general. After Jolinar, Hammond and his superiors had come to a compromise between giving aide and the need for base security. Once a rescue was begun the Mountain was locked down. Personnel and supplies could be brought in, but no one, no matter what, left the mountain unless screened. For the most part, level 32 was unused except for a few storage rooms, and so it had been transformed into a secondary infirmary for circumstances just such as these. A second unused floor within the mountain had been transformed into barracks-style living quarters for refugees who didn't require medical attention.

"Got it, Doc" Jacob assured her.

They waited in silence, lost in their own thoughts, for the first of the casualties to arrive. When the first of many waves of injured were brought to the infirmary there was no more time for thought though. Jack and Sam moved among the wounded giving comfort and explanations as best they could. The four lawyers pitched in as well acting as stretcher bearers and helping bring supplies up from the storerooms. Before any of them knew it three hours had gone by and still the wounded kept coming. Cassandra had appointed herself as runner between the infirmary and the gate room keeping them abreast of the rescue operation. It was she who told them that Hammond had sent several teams through to help excavate the rubble of Nagada. There were still several hundred people missing in the remains of the city.

"Dad!" Sam cried as her father buckled to the ground beside one of the black tagged Abydonians. Harm who had helped bring the dying man to the infirmary caught Jacob and lowered him to sit on the floor with his back to the wall. Sam fell to her knees by his side as she reached for his wrist to take his pulse.

"It's okay, Sammy" Jacob mumbled. "Just tired. Give me a minute."

Sam took the healing device from his hand. "You rest, Dad. Talk me through this," she commanded as she slipped the healing device onto her own hand.

Jacob nodded knowing he and Selmak were too exhausted to continue. Sam would most likely make mistakes with the device, but these patients were dying anyway. She was the only chance they had. Jacob's head bobbed low as Selmak took control of the body and quickly began instructing Sam on the use of the healing device. She listened intently for a minute or two before raising the healing device over the body of the woman on the stretcher in front of her. The level of concentration she needed to bring to bear in order to control the healing device was as intense and difficult as she remembered. Sweat began pouring off her forehead as she moved on to the next injured Abydonian. With her success at healing the first patient, Jacob stopped fighting the blackness which had been threatening to consume him and slumped into unconsciousness.

A.J. Chegwidden watched his friend Jack as he spoke comfortingly to a young man on a stretcher. Chegwidden noticed that though his attention was focused on the young man, Jack nevertheless managed to keep track of Sam's movements around the infirmary as she moved from one black tagged patient to the next. "Sir," Harm said quietly as he walked up beside his commanding officer. "She's pushing herself too hard, sir" Rabb said as he indicated he spoke of Major Carter with a subtle jerk of his head. 

"If she doesn't these people are going to die, Commander" A.J. reminded his subordinate sweeping his gaze across those who had been deemed beyond hope by the medical staff and were now waiting for Carter or her father to perform a miracle. He searched the chaos around him for a moment before catching sight of Jacob Carter who lay slumped on the floor exactly where he'd fallen. He appeared to be unconscious at this point. "Colonel O'Neill's got an eye on her," A.J. added. "He's not going to let her push herself too far."

"If you say so, sir" Rabb acquiesced dubiously as he moved away from the admiral to return to the 'Gate room to help carry more injured to the infirmary.

They weren't the only ones keeping an eye on Sam though. Many noticed how Sam began to stagger from patient to patient in the next two hours until finally she too collapsed. Jacob had regained consciousness by then and made his way slowly over to where Jack knelt next to Sam's unconscious body. He reached for the healing device on her hand only to be beaten to it by quicker hands. He looked up to see who had taken the device and for what reason. Jacob glared trying to retrieve the healing device through intimidation instead of brute force. 

"Show me what to do," Cassie demanded returning his glare with a stubborn scowl of her own as she slipped the device onto her own hand instead.


	14. Chapter 14

"Where are O'Neill and Carter?" Colonel Rivers asked after the final group of casualties had been taken care of.

"I had Colonel O'Neill carry Major Carter down to Teal'c's quarters. We're out of beds in here," Dr. Janet Frasier answered tiredly as she sank into the chair behind the nurse's duty station. Cassie stumbled tiredly over to her mother and sat down on the floor beside her. "You did good, sweetie. I'm so proud of you," Janet praised her daughter as she brushed the sweat dampened hair from the teenager's face.

Jacob followed her over and sat down next to her. His head dipped for a moment as Selmak took control. _**"You did very well, Cassandra. Jacob and I are proud of you as well,"**_ the symbiote said before allowing Jacob to regain control. Cassie smiled tiredly at the former general before laying her head on his shoulder. "Rest now," Jacob told her wrapping an arm around the exhausted girl.

"Then where's the colonel?" Moore asked as he eyed his former commanding officer nervously. He hadn't quite gotten used to the fact that there was a second sentient being inside the former general's body.

"Gate room probably," Jacob said as he closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall. "Taking care of Daniel. Helping coordinate the relief effort."

"Dr. Jackson seemed to take this pretty hard," Admiral Chegwidden commented.

Janet cracked an eye open to look at the admiral. She let her eyes close again before asking, "I thought you'd been given the orientation briefing?"

Harm snapped his fingers as he rememberd, "Dr. Jackson lived on Abydos for a year."

"So he lived on Abydos," Rivers said. "That doesn't mean he knows these people."

"There are only about five thousand people total living on Abydos, Colonel," Janet informed Rivers. "Daniel's wife, Sha're, was the chief elder's daughter. Daniel was part of the council of elders." She gestured around her without opening her eyes, "He knows every one of these people. Probably at least a third of them are family in some way."

"Daniel's an orphan like me," Cassie said. "He didn't have any family at all until he went to Abydos and married Sha're."

Janet opened her eyes to reveal the tears shimmering within. "Sam told me about when they went to get him," she told their guests. "After the attack when he knew he'd have to leave if he was going to help find Sha're and Skaara. He told them to bury the 'Gate. That nothing good had ever come through it. One of the boys said that Daniel had come through it. Sam said she thought her heart would break the boy was so sad. So he told them one year. They were to bury the 'Gate for one year, and after a year he would try to bring Sha're and Skaara home. Sam said they swarmed him then. Hugging him. Touching him. She said you could just feel how much they loved him. How much they wanted him to stay, and how much it hurt him to leave them."

"How many did we lose?" Harm asked. 

"I don't know," Janet admitted, and it appeared as if the exhausted CMO was going to make no attempt to find out either. 

"Twenty-six," Dr. Williams told them as he approached before he too abandoned propriety and took a seat on the cold concrete floor. "We lost four in surgery. The other twenty-two were dead when they came through the 'Gate. We should have lost a Hell of a lot more than that. If it weren't for you two and Major Carter using the healing device," h added with a grateful smile for Cassandra and Jacob Carter.

"Jacob, go find a bed. That's an order," Janet said in her most stern 'I'm the doctor' voice. It didn't quite have the effect it normally would, but then she'd delivered her order with her eyes still closed.

"I'm taking the first shift, ma'am" Dr. Williams decided for his commanding officer. "You should go get some sleep, too."

Janet nodded her acquiescence, too tired to argue. "I'll use the cot in Daniel's lab," she told him. 

"Why don't you and Cassie take the VIP room I was assigned," Jacob suggested. "The bed's big enough for you to share, and I'll take the cot in Daniel's lab."

"Thank you, Jacob" Janet said by way of agreement. She suspected that Cassandra would have nightmares for several weeks to come about what she'd seen and done today. This way she would be close by when they started and able to help her daughter through them.

"I'm going to find Carter and O'Neill," Moore announced standing abruptly.

"If Major Carter's anywhere but a bed call down here so someone can go sedate her," Dr. Williams requested as he lowered himself tiredly into the chair Janet had just vacated. 

A.J. sighed as he stood to follow Moore from the room. He didn't want the prosecutor alone with either of his clients in the condition they no doubt were in. _'I'm getting too old for days like this,'_ he thought. "You coming, Commander?" he asked the other Navy officer knowing Rabb would correctly interpret his question as the order it really was.

"Yes, sir" Harm immediately replied though A.J. was gratified to notice that the commander had a hard time rising from his seat as well.

"I'll show you where Teal'c's quarters are," Jacob said as Cassandra helped him to his feet. The SF's who would normally be shadowing their visitors had been needed to handle the waves of refugees pouring through the Stargate so for the moment at least they were without escort.

"Thank you," General Moore said. 

They followed him through the maze of corridors deep within the mountain. He knocked briefly at the door when they reached their destination and quietly opened it. After peeking inside, he opened it more fully and entered after gesturing to the other men for quiet. Inside they found Sam asleep on Teal'c's bed amidst the myriad of candles scattered around the room. Jacob walked quietly to the bed and checked on his sleeping daughter with a sense of nostalgia remembering how many times he'd done just this when she was a little girl. He noted that Jack had put her back on the IV, though there was no monitor clipped to her finger. He gently lifted her wrist and took her pulse. "She's fine," he whispered to the other men. "I'll take you down to the 'Gate room."

"I didn't know Jack knew how to put in an IV," A.J. commented as he followed the former general from the room.

"Probably learned sometime in the last couple years," Jacob guessed as they descended the stairs to level 28. 

"They've been patients in the infirmary that often?" Harm asked. "Before all this started Dr. Frasier made a comment about them having their own assigned beds in the infirmary."

"They go where angels fear to tread," Jack said with a wry smile.

"How do you feel about that, sir?" General Moore asked curiously. "About your daughter in combat." The commanding officer he had known would have been spitting mad at the mere thought. The man before him appeared to take it as a matter of fact.

"To be honest, when she and George came to the hospital and told me what she really did it didn't dawn on me that when she said she explored other worlds she did it strapped to a P-90," Jacob admitted.

"Hospital?" Harm questioned. "You were ill, sir?"

"It's the reason I became a host. I had cancer. I was only a few days from death. Becoming a host was the only thing that could save my life. Even that was iffy," Jacob explained.

"When did you realize how dangerous her missions were, sir?" Admiral Chegwidden asked.

"Call me Jacob," the former general offered. "Probably when she and the rest of her team got sent to rescue me from Netu," Jacob told them with obvious pride in his voice. "It's expected that parents will be willing to go to Hell for their children. Not too many fathers know with absolute certainty that their child will go to Hell for them, and I mean that literally."

"In their journal, your daughter said Panersh made Netu seem like Shangri-la," Colonel Rivers said. "What is Netu?"

Jacob launched into an explanation of Sokar and a description of the terra-forming he'd done to the planet Netu then told them briefly of SG-1's mission to rescue him.

"You mean he literally turned it into Hell?" Harm asked with a note of stunned disbelief in his voice.

Jacob nodded with an ironic smile. "The System Lords have no small amount of ego," he added as they reached the embarkation room. The large metal door slid open to reveal Jackson and O'Neill talking to a small group of young men dressed in desert garb. "Jack," Jacob called to the man he knew would soon be his son-in-law. "Janet says you're to get your ass back to bed."

"Doc didn't say that," Jack dismissed from where he sat in a chair purloined for him by someone. It was fairly obvious that nothing short of a disaster in the room itself would get him out of that chair though it was not because he was being stubborn. He was just too exhausted.

"You're right. She didn't**,"** Jacob admitted. "However, as your father, I'm telling you. Get your ass down to Teal'c's quarters and get some rest."

"This is your father, O'Neill?" one of the young men asked. 

"This is Major Carter's father, Skaara" Jack answered as if that explained everything, and it did.

"You're not making my case any easier," A.J. warned as he saw Colonel Rivers watching the scene with an obvious kind of glee. 

"Sam and I have no illusions about beating this charge, A.J." Jack told his friend. "Just keep us out of the stockade."

"You must do as your near-father orders, O'Neill" Skaara admonished his mentor. "He is right. You do not look well."

"I've been better, Skaara" Jack admitted. "Okay, give me a minute, and I'll go rest like a good boy."

"We shall go, Danyel?" Skaara asked.

"Let me go change," Daniel agreed before jogging from the room.

"Where's Daniel going?" Jacob asked curiously.

"Danyel come home," one of the other young men said happily.

"Permanently?" Jacob gasped. He couldn't believe that Daniel was going to leave the SGC, at least not now.

"No," Skaara said. "Danyel come help."

"Teal'c's already there," Jack added. "They're going to help get the rebuilding started. Get things organized."

Jacob's eyes narrowed but the others took his explanation at face value. Jacob, however, recognized Jack O'Neill in plotting mode. 

Daniel returned wearing the desert garb of his adopted home. "I'm ready," he said nodding to Simmons, who was watching from the control room, to start dialing Abydos. "I'll be back in a couple days, Jack, but..."

"We know where to find you," Jack assured his friend as they exchanged a quick hug. "Keep Teal'c out of trouble."

"That's usually said the other way around," Daniel remarked with a self-deprecating smirk. 

He waved as he headed up the ramp with the young Abydonian men. Jack watched from where he was seated hoping Daniel and Teal'c would be able to accomplish the tasks he had asked of them.


	15. Chapter 15

Daniel wiped the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his robe. It was still several hours before the suns set on Abydos. He was working with a mixed group of Abydonians and SGC volunteers clearing away the rubble in the city. A second group led by Teal'c had the more gruesome task of burying the bodies of those who hadn't survived the attack. Daniel hadn't known what to think as Jack had laid out his request sitting in his purloined chair in the middle of the 'Gate room. His initial reaction had been panic, until he'd realized Jack had spoken in the modern Goa'uld tongue spoken among the jaffa. Fourteen months ago he couldn't imagine Jack knowing the language, but he'd obviously learned by necessity on Panersh. No one else in the room had a clue what the three men spoke of as Jack switched to Abydonian at the end telling the boys to play along and pretend they understood every word. Their hero-worship of Jack and unshakable trust in Daniel meant they obeyed his request without question allowing Jack, Teal'c, Skaara, and Daniel to plot their next move openly in the middle of the crowded 'Gate room.

By the time night had fallen on Abydos all the missing had been accounted for. So for safety of the rescuers, work was stopped for the night. The older women had prepared a hearty meal for those who had been working in the mind-numbing heat. Most of the SGC personnel had elected to return to Earth for the night and return the next day, but a few had remained. At Daniel's whispered request, Skaara and the others brought out their finest hooch. He had also managed to have a quiet word with the women preparing the evening meal to suggest certain dishes. At first the soldiers had tried to refuse the hooch, but Skaara had shamelessly talked them into trying the homemade alcohol by making it a matter of honor. He informed the soldiers from the SGC that the drink was being offered to thank them for their aid and that the soldiers would be insulting them if they didn't take at least a sip. The heavy meal combined with the alcohol they had consumed and the day of labor in the blazing heat of Abydos had made the soldiers sleepy just as Daniel had hoped. Daniel and Skaara told Ferretti that 'the boys' would take the first watch so the soldiers could rest arguing that the SGC soldiers needed it more because they weren't used to the heat. As the senior officer present, Ferretti had accepted the arrangement without question. He had fought with the Abydonians after all and knew they were capable of guarding the 'Gate. Hadn't they proved it just hours ago? He and his men turned in gratefully.

"One hurdle down," Daniel murmured an hour later as he punched in the first chevron that would take them to the world where they would hopefully make contact with the Asgard. One of the boys had reported that all of the Tau'ri soldiers were now asleep. "Remember, if they realize someone's dialed out say Skaara, Teal'c, and I went to speak with the Asgard about making Abydos a protected planet," Daniel reminded the group of Abydonians who would guard the Stargate in their absence. The young men nodded then turned to watch as the seventh chevron locked into place and the wormhole formed within the ancient device. "We'll be back in a few hours," he added just before he walked through the curtain of energy and onto another world. Daniel and Skaara stepped down from the platform on which the Stargate stood as Teal'c headed for the DHD to dial in the address of his next destination. "Meet you at the Tok'ra base in four hours, Teal'c" Daniel told his teammate who nodded solemnly. "Good luck," he added.

"Indeed. Good luck to us both, DanielJackson," Teal'c responded as he bowed his head slightly to the other man before turning and walking through the 'Gate.

"Let's go talk to the Asgard, Skaara" Daniel said as he led his brother-in-law towards the church in the center of town. They quietly entered the church, and Daniel pointed out the obelisk at the front. He and Skaara stepped up and touched it together. Skaara looked around with interest as they found themselves in the cave that Daniel was becoming more familiar with all the time. Daniel led the way to the circle of light where contact would be made with the Asgard council. The two men paced the confines of the cavern for more than an hour before the holographic images of three Asgard appeared before them.

"Dr. Jackson," Thor greeted them. "How fare Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter?" he asked.

"Physically they're recovering. Jack's the one that sent me, Thor" Daniel said. "He wants me to ask a favor."

"Did you not come before us just days ago to ask for a favor on their behalf?" Freyr asked.

"Yes," Daniel admitted. "I know we've asked for quite a lot lately, but I'm not here asking on behalf of the Tau'ri. This is a personal favor for Sam and Jack." Daniel paused to take a breath then told them everything they'd learned of the twins' kidnapping in the two days since Thor had returned to the Asgard fleet after fleeing the destruction of his ship. "Help us save their children," he plead. "You remember the rogue group from our world that was stealing technology from you?"

"Yes," Freyr answered as his large black eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Remnants of that group have taken Jack and Sam's children. Please!" Daniel begged. "We just need to borrow a few things for a few weeks at most."

"What things?" Thor asked. The expression on his gray face was one that Daniel was learning to recognize as curiosity.

Daniel sighed with relief. He quickly outlined what Jack had sent him to ask for and the reasons behind Jack's request. 

"I will grant your request, Dr. Jackson" Thor agreed.

"You do not have that authority," Freyr rebuked the other Asgard.

"I do not speak for the Asgard in this," Thor told him. "I speak for myself. The equipment belongs to me personally, and I personally will lend it to them. I consider Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter my...friends. The task we asked of O'Neill has obviously contributed to the reason behind this kidnapping. We are partly to blame," he argued to his fellow Asgard. "We must do what we can to help."

"Thank you, Thor" Daniel told the little alien. 

There was a small flash as a small egg-shaped stone appeared on the floor of the cave in front of the humans. "Take this communications device to contact me when you need my assistance," Thor told them. "I will be waiting. For now we must go."

"Wait!" Skaara said urgently. "I wish to speak."

"About what do you wish to speak?" Freyr asked.

"My world was attacked by Anubis," Skaara said. "I ask protection for my people from the System Lords."

"You are the former host of Klorel?" Heimdall asked.

"Yes," Skaara replied.

"Skaara wants Abydos added to the protected planets treaty," Daniel added making it clear exactly what the younger man wished.

"We will consider it," Freyr said just before the holograms of the Asgard faded from view.

Skaara's shoulders slumped with defeat. 

"They said they'd consider it, Skaara" Daniel said.

"That mean no, Danyel" Skaara scoffed. "They will not help Abydos."

"Then Abydos helps itself. Re-open the mine, Skaara" Daniel suggested as they walked back to where the obelisk stood inside the cave. "Sell the naquadah to the Tau'ri for technology to defend yourself. An iris device for the Chapa'ii. More guns and ammunition."

Skaara cocked his head to the side as he considered Daniel's words. "Possible," he said.

"There is a group of jaffa warriors who have broken from the System Lords like Teal'c," Daniel added. "Perhaps some of them could be asked to settle on Abydos to increase our numbers."

Skaara shook his head as he touched the obelisk that would return them to the village church. "Jaffa cause problems Danyel. Too many remember Ra. We trade naquadah to the Tau'ri to rebuild Nagada," Skaara murmured as they exited the church. "Maybe O'Neill's near-father trade for naquadah too?" he asked Daniel.

"Probably," Daniel agreed. He couldn't imagine how so few Tok'ra managed to have the supply of naquadah their technology required without stealing or bartering it. He punched in the chevrons to take them to the abandoned Tok'ra base where they would meet Teal'c. 


	16. Chapter 16

When Teal'c returned to his quarters two days later he found O'Neill and Carter still in residence. "Where's Danny?" Jack asked as he slipped from the chair he'd been sitting in to take a seat on the bed next to Sam. He gestured for Teal'c to take the seat he'd just vacated. 

"DoctorJackson and Skaara have gone to speak with GeneralHammond of protection for Abydos," Teal'c said. "DoctorJackson has convinced the people of Abydos to re-open the mine so they may barter with the Tau'ri for an iris device for the chapa'ii."

"Chapa'ii?" Rabb asked. "You mean the Stargate?"

"Indeed," Teal'c confirmed. "They also wish to speak with Selmak of bartering with the Tok'ra."

"We could use the naquadah," Jacob said. 

"So your mission was successful?" Sam asked forcing a calmness into her tone she didn't feel.

"We accomplished all that we sought," Teal'c confirmed as he held Jack's gaze.

Jack nodded in return then turned the conversation back to what they'd been discussing before Teal'c's return. "So you turned up the four missing men?" he asked Webb.

Clayton nodded. "Two of them. Airman Calder was in the morgue," he said. "Sergeant Iza was found trussed up in the trunk of his car outside some bar called O'Malley's. I did some checking on the other two. Rogers and Gaerte were fakes. No record of them other than in the computers. They were assigned to base security. I tried to get some information out of the people at O'Malley's but when I mentioned your name the guy threw me out."

"Carter, Daniel, and I treed the place a few years ago," O'Neill explained as both he and Sam blushed.

"You trashed a bar, Jack?" A.J. asked with a laugh. "You?"

"Daniel threw the first punch," Jack blamed his friend. "What did Iza have to say about how he ended up in the trunk of his own car?" 

"Rogers and Gaerte took him out for drinks," Harm told them. "Doesn't remember anything after the first drink. From a stain on his shirt they picked up traces of rohypnol."

"I'm trying to track down missing shipments of the drug," Clay added.

Jack sighed running a hand through his hair. "The date rape drug? It'll be a dead end," he predicted. 

"Cassie called from school while you were busy being interrogated by General Moore," Sam told Jack as she set aside the laptop that had been balanced on her outstretched legs. "G. Gordon left a message in her locker at school. He says he's picked up intel that the NID are after something at Area 51. He's gone to check it out."

"What could they be interested in out there, Jack?" A.J. asked remembering what Jackson had said about Area 51 being used for research on artifacts brought back through the Stargate. "Why would it be important enough for him to go check it out?"

"Something that shouldn't be played with," Jack predicted answering the first question. He could only shrug in reply to the second.

"Like rebuilt death gliders," Jacob muttered earning himself a glare from not only Sam and Jack but Teal'c as well.

"There's too much out there to even take a guess," Sam added as she shifted on the bed to give Jack room to scoot back against the headboard. "Is there anyone in D.C. you can trust to do a little checking?" she asked the CIA operative.

"On what?" Clay replied cautiously.

"These addresses," Sam replied handing him the piece of paper she'd been holding in her hand. "They were with the note. I think they're NID owned property, but I can't be sure." 

"Gunny could do that," Rabb suggested to Chegwidden who nodded. Harm took the list Sam handed him. "Come on, Webb" Harm ordered.

"Where?" the other man demanded warily.

"Up top," Harm said. "I need to borrow your phone. It's the only one we can be sure is secure." Harm pulled his erstwhile friend from the room leaving the others to talk for a few more minutes before Major Carter's scheduled interview with General Moore and Colonel Rivers.

Without thinking Jack draped his arm across her shoulders, and she let her head fall back against it like a pillow. The movement was so natural compared to the boundaries they'd carefully put in place before they went missing it caused Teal'c to raise an eyebrow.

"What Teal'c?" Sam asked noticing his action.

"Your ordeal has been good for you," Teal'c observed of his two friends. "I believe Master Bra'tac would say 'The demons of your heart have been conquered.'"

Sam and Jack looked at each other in stunned surprise as they considered Teal'c's words.

"You're right, T" Jack admitted finally. "Problem is we have some new demons to take their place."

"You will face these new demons together," Teal'c replied with steadfast conviction.

Sam smiled at him. "Yes, we will, Teal'c," she agreed.

"You're going to resign aren't you?" Daniel asked from the doorway where he stood still dressed in the desert robes of Abydos.

"Yeah," Jack admitted. "I'm tired, Daniel."

"I may stay with the SGC, but not on a team. Our kids deserve to have their parents," Sam added. Daniel could read so much more than that simple statement in the expressions on their faces as they looked at him. Daniel understood they didn't want J.D. and Gina to suffer through the kind of childhood he'd had. They all knew that if Jack and Sam stayed with the SGC their luck would eventually run out leaving the twins without one or both of their parents. In Jack's eyes, Daniel saw the lingering grief for Charlie. Daniel knew Jack regretted how much time he'd spent away from his son. It appeared Jack had no intention of repeating that mistake this time around.

"What are you going to do with your retirement?" A.J. asked.

"I wanna be a house-husband," Jack confirmed as he squeezed Sam's shoulder. A.J., Jacob, and Daniel chuckled lightly as Teal'c's eyebrow crept skyward again. His joke even brought a small smile to Sam's worried face. _ 'Mission accomplished,'_ Jack told himself pulling her close.


	17. Chapter 17

"Shut up, Beiers, before I have Teal'c gag you!" Jack growled from his seat next to Sam. Jacob and Teal'c sat across form them in the executive style jet that was taking them to D.C. for trial while Daniel and Janet sat talking quietly across the aisle facing Admiral Chegwidden and Commander Rabb. 

"You can't do that," Beiers retorted angrily as he continued to tug at his restraints where he sat at the back of the plane as far away from the others as they could get him.

"Watch me," Jack threatened as he twisted in his seat to look back at the man cuffed to his seat and the seemingly impassive guard seated next to him. His knuckles were white from the force of his grip on the paperback book he held in his hand. 

Sam surreptitiously placed her hand on top of his arm to keep him from chucking the book at Beiers. "No, Jack" she whispered so quietly she hoped no one else would notice. When he turned back around his eyes still burned with anger, but he nodded subtly to Sam acknowledging that now definitely wasn't the time to add charges of assaulting a junior officer to the one they already faced.

"Jack, I know how you feel, but you've gotta take it easy," A.J. warned his friend though his face showed the anger he too felt at what Beiers had done. 

"All due respect, A.J. No, you don't know how I feel," Jack told his old friend. The mask of calm control that was his habit slipped even further revealing the haunted grim face Jack O'Neill had been keeping carefully hidden. "You weren't there on Panersh. You didn't have to look at their faces," he said before swallowing hard and clearing his throat. "You didn't have to stand by and let it happen. You didn't have to watch..." Jack's voice broke then. They could see the anger and self-hatred in his eyes. "Excuse me," he said as he abruptly unbuckled his seatbelt and made his way to the small lavatory locking himself inside. 

Sam debated going after him for a minute. She could see the same debate on the faces of the others before one by one they looked to her to decide. "Leave him alone for a minute," she ordered in a quiet voice that shook from her own internal battle with her emotions. She leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees holding her face in her hands. Jacob reached out and gently rubbed her back saying nothing knowing eventually she'd speak. "It was so hard," she finally whispered. "Knowing we couldn't help."

"Sam..." Jacob sighed but found he couldn't find the words to continue.

"Their eyes were the worst," she continued. "It was bad enough for me. They hated me because I had him and they didn't, but Jack...they begged him with their eyes. Begged him to protect them too, but we knew...if he'd protected more than me, they'd see him as a threat to their power and turn on us. Our situation was already so precarious."

"You did right, major" a voice from behind said surprising not just Sam. She turned to see General Moore standing with his hands resting on the back of her seat. "I'll still prosecute you because it's my duty. I don't have to like it. I just have to do it. But I wanted you to know that personally, I think you and Colonel O'Neill did what you had to do to stay alive."

"Thank you, sir" she told him. From the corner of her eye Sam could see Jack emerge from the lavatory.

"What she said," Jack added quietly as he once again took his seat next to Sam. "But I have to ask. Why, sir? I know you didn't feel that way when you first arrived at the mountain."

"Because of the interviews I've conducted since then, Colonel" Moore said. "Every person I talked to said pretty much the same thing. Yes, the two of you had a close relationship, but you would never act improperly. I was told about the incident with the entity in the mainframe and quite a few others. In each case, you never put your personal feelings for one another above duty."

"How touching," Beiers sneered from the back of the plane. "You admire him for breaking the regs fucking his second in command, but I fuck a native girl and I'm scum."

Jack's face hardened and he started to stand, but General Moore's hand on his shoulder forced him back into his seat. "Allow me, Colonel" he said snapping his fingers at the guard seated next to Beiers. "Gag him," Moore ordered. The man looked relieved as he rose from his seat to find something with which to gag his prisoner.

"We appreciate the silence," Daniel said.

"And your candor, sir" Sam added.

"Then let me speak frankly about something else while I can," he said very quietly keeping his eye on the door to the pilot's cabin where he'd sent his aide at the beginning of Colonel O'Neill's outburst. "Colonel Rivers was assigned as my aide two days before my arrival at the SGC."

"Why are you telling us this, sir?" Commander Rabb asked.

"There's something about him I don't trust," Moore answered. "Considering the current situation, I suspect he's NID. Be careful of what you say around him," he urged them. 

No one responded as Colonel Rivers chose that moment to return to the cabin. "We're ninety minutes out, sir," he told General Moore who nodded to his aide pleasantly enough but the expression didn't quite reach his eyes.

The rest of the flight went quickly and silently. When they landed General Moore and Colonel Rivers escorted Beiers away to the cell that would be his until his trial while Admiral Chegwidden and Commander Rabb escorted the others to JAG headquarters. "Leave your bags," A.J. told them. "You'll stay at my place." Jack nodded as he helped Sam from the back seat of A.J.'s SUV then steadied her as she swayed slightly with exhaustion. Once Sam had regained her balance Jack withdrew his support knowing they had to try to keep up appearances. Chegwidden shared a concerned look with Teal'c who raised an eyebrow in return. "Colonel McKenzie, Commander Turner, Lieutenant Roberts, Lieutenant Singer, Gunny" A.J. called as he weaved his way among the desks. "Conference room, now."

"Aye, sir" they acknowledged in unison. Gunny picked a file folder up off his desk before following the others into the room.

"How was your trip, Harm?" Mac asked.

"Out of this world," he replied irony dripping from his tongue with each word. She gave him a curious look but didn't ask any further questions.

"Commander Rabb and I have volunteered our services to Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter in their court-martial," Chegwidden explained without preamble as he gestured to the two Air Force officers who had gratefully seated themselves side by side at the table. Sam had leaned forward with her elbows resting on her knees. Jack had also leaned forward in his seat wrapping one hand around Carter's arm to catch her should she pass out.

"What are the charges, sir?" Bud asked.

"Fraternization," O'Neill answered. Sam had laid her head on Jack's shoulder at his urging and closed her eyes giving in to the constant fatigue that had become her frequent companion since waking on Thor's ship.

"You're not making defending you any easier, sir" Turner pointed out.

Sam opened her eyes but didn't lift her head from Jack's shoulder as she said, "Two weeks ago I gave birth to twins. Denial is not exactly an option."

"So why haven't you plead guilty, ma'am?" Roberts asked. "Taken a plea bargain."

"Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter have some very strong mitigating circumstances," Harm said but refused to elaborate further.

"Sir, I'd like to volunteer to be second chair," Singer offered much to the disgust of the others in the room.

"Not this time, Lieutenant" A.J. denied. "You don't have the necessary security clearance. Colonel McKenzie, you've got the necessary clearance levels."

"I'd be happy to help, sir" Sara offered.

"Thank you," A.J. said. "The rest of you are going to have to pick up the slack. We've only got three days to prep the case. Commander Turner, I'll leave the disposition of Commander Rabb and Colonel McKenzie's cases up to you."

"Yes, sir" the submariner said.

"Turner, Roberts, Singer. You're dismissed," A.J. told them.

Each acknowledged with a salute before turning to leave the room though Singer glanced back at Gunnery Sergeant Galindez who had remained.

"Gunny, that favor I asked," Harm said as soon as the door shut behind them.

"Most of the addresses were empty houses," Gunny said as he stepped towards the conference room table. "There was one that had a lot of security though. I took a chance that was what you were looking for and went back with a camera," he explained as he set the folder he'd been carrying on the table and began spreading out the photos that had been inside. Gunny stepped quickly out of the way as the visitors surged the table and began rifling through the prints.

It took only a moment before Daniel said, "Look who I've got. Senator Kinsey." He held a picture of the Senator stepping out of a car in front of the non-descript building.

"I'll see your Senator Kinsey and raise you Alexandro Rivera," Janet said holding up a second picture. In it, Dr. Rivera stood outside the same building smoking a cigar.

Sam sat down abruptly as she said quietly, "Kinsey and the good doctor together." She fanned the pictures out in front of her as Jack took the seat next to her and grabbed her hand. The final picture in the group with Kinsey and Rivera showed the two men shaking hands. She took a deep breath before saying, "I had hoped we were wrong." 

"Sit down, Gunny" Colonel O'Neill ordered. "We're going to need to know everything you saw out there. Every detail."

Jacob sat down next to his daughter and began methodically going through the pictures. Spreading them out in such a way that they could see the entire compound.

"Cameras," Daniel murmured as he leaned across the table to get a better view. He grabbed a couple markers from the holder on the side table and began circling the camera placements. 

Jacob took the marker Daniel handed him and began making his own notations on the pictures.

"How many guards?" Sam asked the sergeant.

"They were patrolling in pairs, ma'am" Gunny answered. "Two pairs along the fence line. They completed a circuit every fifteen minutes. Another pair was patrolling the building exterior. Their circuit looked to be about five minutes."

"What about the fence?" Jack asked.

"Electrified," Gunny told them confirming what Jack had already suspected. "High voltage, too."

"How much coming and going did you see?" Jack asked as he pointed out another camera for Daniel to circle. He wondered if they could sneak in with the traffic.

"Just the Senator," Victor answered. "It's locked down tight, sir. I couldn't see any way in."

"Jacob...isn't that..." Daniel mumbled as he pointed to a blurry shape barely visible on top of the roof of the building.

"I can't tell what it is," Jacob said as he began shuffling through the photos for a better view of the roof. 

Teal'c was the first to find it though. "A goa'uld shield device," Teal'c firmly stated as he laid the photo in the center of the table where everyone could see.

"Here," Jacob said pointing to a small object protruding from the ground at the base of the fence. "The shield covers the entire grounds. The only way in is going to be the front door" Jacob confirmed.

"Where the Hell is...G. Gordon?" Jack growled just catching himself from confirming G. Gordon's identity. 

"We'll send him a message," Sam said soothingly knowing that at least one of them had to keep a cool head at all times if they were going to get their children back. Today it just happened to be her turn. "He'll check in soon."


	18. Chapter 18

At the moment, Harry Maybourne a.k.a. "G. Gordon" was busy bleeding all over the interior of his rented car as he attempted to drive himself back to Colorado Springs from the secret government installation at Groom Lake known as Area 51. For five days he'd been trailing behind the NID agents skulking around Area 51 in the hopes of finding out just what exactly they were after. His chance came when he'd watched them break through the base's security heading for one of the storage buildings. He'd caught up just in time to interrupt them coming out of one of the storage rooms that housed artifacts brought back by the SG teams. In the struggle he'd managed to wrestle part of the pilfered material away from the NID agents, but he'd managed to get himself shot in the process. By this time base security had become aware of the breach, but like his NID rivals, Harry had managed to elude them. 

He had made it about ten miles down the highway before he'd been forced to pull off the road to staunch the flow of blood and get his first look at what the NID had been after. It had only taken him a few minutes to realize that while he'd managed to snatch an important piece of the puzzle from them, the NID would eventually be able to activate the stolen alien technology without it. It would just be a matter of time before they found the correct frequency through trial and error. Another fifty miles down the road Harry pulled off the highway into a secluded rest stop. Inside the restroom, Harry managed to get himself cleaned up enough to appear in public without calling unwanted attention to himself. He used pieces of his torn and blood soaked shirt to form a pad. _'Thank God for duct tape,'_ Harry thought to himself as he secured his makeshift bandage to his side with strips torn from a roll he'd pilfered from the supply closet.

An hour later, he pulled off the interstate when he saw the neon lights of a small town cutting through the dark. He drove through the town until he found one of the large all-night superstores that were springing up across the country. Grabbing a basket he quickly found everything he would need to treat himself and keep himself going until he reached Colorado Springs. He paid for his purchases in cash and waited impatiently for the cashier to bag them. Harry threw the bag onto the passenger seat knowing he could make it a little while longer on his improvised bandage before pulling over again, but he did open the bottles of extra strength pain reliever and caffeine pills. He took several of each and washed them down with the soda he'd bought. He took a moment to consult the map before maneuvering his rented car onto the ramp that would take him back onto the interstate and sped away afraid to stay in one place longer than absolutely necessary.

Sometime the next morning, Harry carefully maneuvered his vehicle into the driveway of a non-descript home in the suburbs of Colorado Springs popular with military families. He used the car's mirrors to check that no one was around to see him before he levered himself from the car. The wound in his side screamed in protest at his movement, and he could feel the blood begin to seep from the wound again. In his hand, Harry held the documents he'd grabbed from the NID thieves. He hoped this wasn't a mistake, but he knew he couldn't go any farther without medical attention. He just prayed Major Doctor Frasier didn't turn him in. He had no wish to return to his cell at Fort Leavenworth, but even though Harry's scruples weren't as straight-laced as O'Neill's, he did have them. He firmly believed there was a special level of Hell reserved for those who harmed children, and it looked as though the NID and Senator Kinsey were about to consign themselves there. He knocked on the door loudly. When it opened he stared in surprise at the face of the teenager in front of him. "Where's your mother?" he demanded in a voice hoarse with fatigue and pain.

"Washington," Cassie replied instantly. "Testifying at Sam and Jack's trial. You're G. Gordon aren't you?" she asked in return.

Harry nodded wearily as he slumped against the door frame. 

"You'd better come in then," Cassie decided sweeping a look around the neighborhood. "Sam and Jack have been looking for you," she told him. She stepped back out of the way expecting Harry to enter the house, but when he straightened away from the door frame his vision went gray and he heard a ringing in his ears. Cassie's exclamation of surprise was the last thing he heard as the floor came up to meet his face.

Harry came around to the sound of scissors on fabric and the feel of cold metal against his bare skin. He sat up with a gasp only to be pushed back down by the scissor-wielding teenager kneeling next to him. It was then that he realized he was lying on the couch in the living room instead of the floor in the entry. "How'd you get me here?" Harry asked.

"It wasn't easy," Cassie assured him as she pushed his hands away and continued cutting away his shirt. 

"Damn it! Stop!" he cursed. "I don't have any other shirts."

"I'll get you one of Daniel's," Cassie told him. "I need to get a look at that wound."

"It's fine," Harry argued.

"Look," Cassie said gesturing with the scissors in her hand. "You're bleeding like a stuck pig and have been for some time if the amount of blood in the front seat of that car is any indication. You have two options as far as I can see. Me or the emergency room."

Harry considered the relative merits of both options before finally agreeing, "You."

Cassie allowed herself a small smile of triumph before she went back to cutting away his shirt. "I've got to take this tape off," Cassie warned just before she began pulling gently but steadily. "Swear if you want," she offered as she noticed his grimace of pain. Harry didn't need to consider that suggestion. He cursed a blue streak in the air as Cassie pulled the tape slowly from his side. He wanted to tell her to just rip it away, but he understood as well as she that if she did so the bleeding would start again. He'd lost too much blood already. When the last of the tape was away Cassie picked up the wash cloth and alcohol she'd previously set within reach. Harry's curses took on a new volume as she cleansed his wound. "I need to stitch this closed," Cassie informed him. "Don't worry. Mom taught me to do sutures while I was confined to the infirmary a few months ago. I've been practicing."

"Practicing on what?" Harry muttered through teeth gritted in pain.

"Pig's feet," Cassie answered with a smirk knowing he wouldn't appreciate the information.

"Great," Harry muttered. "Just do it," he ordered as she hesitated holding up the already threaded needle.

"Here," Cassie said handing him the bottle of vodka she'd removed from the cabinet in the kitchen where her mother stored the alcohol. "This will help. I'm afraid this is the best I can do for anesthetic," she told him with a shrug as she rubbed liberal amounts of teething gel along the edges of his wound. "It's left over from when I got my wisdom teeth out," Cassie told him. Harry nodded though Cassie could tell he didn't really care where it came from. She waited a minute or so for the gel to numb him then handed him a wooden spoon from the kitchen. "Bite down on this," she said. "We don't want the neighbors calling the cops because they hear screaming." 

Harry managed to stay conscious through the first three stitches before giving into the pain and blood loss for a second time. He came to as Cassie was applying a final piece of surgical tape to the fresh white gauze pad she'd placed over his wound. "Thank you," Harry told the young woman.

Cassie nodded. "I'm going to get cleaned up and find you that shirt," she told him. A few minutes later when she returned to the living room the blood was gone from her hands, and she was carrying several pieces of clothing in her hands. "Here," she said holding out a black t-shirt. She helped him slip it over his head then held out a denim shirt. "Wear this over it. The added bulk should help disguise the bandage," she ordered him.

"Good idea," he agreed as he allowed her to help him into the borrowed shirt. 

"You need to call Sam and Jack," Cassie ordered him as she went to get the cordless phone from its cradle on the desk.

"No," Harry protested attempting to get off the couch. "Not from here. They'll be watching for that."

Cassie stopped then looked down at the phone in her hand. "I've got a cell?" she asked.

Harry shook his head as he gritted his teeth against the new pain caused by his movements. "I need to go there," Harry said.

"How do you propose we get to D.C.?" Cassie asked sarcastically. "Fly? You'd never get past security."

"Yes, I know. I'm going to have to charter a flight," Harry said, "but there is no 'we' involved."

"Wanna bet?" she argued. "You aren't going to make it on your own. You've lost too much blood. You're going to need someone to help you."

"Your mother will kill me," Harry protested.

Cassie kept the smirk from her face only with a great deal of effort knowing she'd already won by the way he'd voiced his protest. "Give me the keys to your car," she ordered. "I'll get your bag. There's blood on those jeans too."


	19. Chapter 19

"All rise," the officer of the court intoned. "This court is now in session. Colonel John Pierce presiding."

"Be seated," Pierce ordered absentmindedly as he sat down placing the folders he'd carried into the court room in front of him. He nodded to the officer of the court who read the charges against O'Neill and Carter. "General, your opening statement," he said to Moore.

"Your honor, before we begin, the prosecution and defense have a joint motion," Moore told him.

"Proceed," Colonel Pierce told him.

"The nature of the SGC is so far outside the norm that we feel it prudent to orient the members before proceeding further," Moore said. "To avoid confusion."

"You have a plan as to how to accomplish this?" Pierce asked.

"Yes, sir" Admiral Chegwidden answered. "We request that Doctor Jackson conduct the standard briefing given to new SGC recruits."

"Very well," Pierce decided. "Doctor Jackson?"

Daniel rose to his feet from where he'd been seated in the gallery behind the defense table. "Yes, sir" he said.

"Start your briefing, doctor" Pierce ordered.

"Yes, sir" he acknowledged. "Dim the lights, please" he requested as Commander Rabb helped him pull a cart on which a large monitor sat into the courtroom. Daniel picked up the remote control and hit play beginning his lecture.

When Daniel finished there was an uneasy quiet in the courtroom as those present who hadn't been aware of the SGC struggled to come to grips with what they'd just been told over the course of the previous ninety minutes. It wasn't easy for these military officers to learn that they were at war, and they hadn't even known. It sounded more like the plot from a bad science fiction movie than reality, but they had to accept it as fact. They were accustomed to 'need to know' but nothing could have prepared them for something of this magnitude.

"Thank you, Doctor Jackson," Pierce said. "We'll take a fifteen minute recess and then begin with the opening arguments," he ordered before bringing down his gavel adjourning the court. Everyone rose at the instruction of the officer of the court as the judge and members of the court filed out. A few minutes later everyone in the courtroom was back in their seats as General Moore began his opening arguments.

"The facts of this case are simple," General Moore began. "Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter have over the course of the last fifteen months had an inappropriate sexual relationship. The defense will argue that there were extenuating circumstances due to the nature of their mission, but the fact remains that these two officers deliberately chose to break regulations." Moore walked back to the prosecution table and picked up the journal that would be the center piece of his arguments. He brandished it in the air as he told the members of the court, "In Colonel O'Neill's own words they chose to 'fuck the regs.' We cannot contest the circumstances surrounding this decision were extreme, but the fact remains that they chose to break the regulations. Now they must accept the consequences of that choice." Moore returned to his seat.

Admiral Chegwidden pushed back his chair and stood, adjusting his uniform as he did so. "Colonel O'Neill is a friend of mine," A.J. told the court. "As his friend, I wish that the facts of this case were as simple as General Moore described, but you need only to look at Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter to get an inkling that this is not the case." As A.J. spoke he paced along in front of the jury box then over to stand behind O'Neill and Carter at the defense table. He paused waiting for the members of the court to take a good long look at the gaunt forms of the defendants. A week's worth of Dr. Frasier's careful diet had hardly made a difference in their appearance. The hastily altered uniforms only accentuated the weight they had lost. "The extenuating circumstances General Moore alluded to was their capture by the Goa'uld more than fifteen months ago. A little over two weeks ago, Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter managed to escape their imprisonment and return to Earth. Yes, Colonel O'Neill did write 'fuck the regs.' in this journal," A.J. said as he lifted the notebook from the prosecution table, "but General Moore failed to read you the rest of that particular entry. He actually wrote 'Fuck the regs. They can court-martial me when we get back to Earth. I'm not going to let her die.'" Chegwidden read before laying the journal back down on the prosecution table. "There is a duty higher than rules and regulations placed on those in command. It is the duty to not waste the lives of the people entrusted to you needlessly. As soldiers, we all recognize we may be asked to give up our lives in defense of this country or in the case of the men and women of the SGC, this world, but we expect that if that sacrifice is asked of us that it **_mean _**something."

"Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter were not captured as prisoners of war. They were accidentally picked up in a slave raid," A.J. explained letting his disgust at the notion play across his face. "They followed procedure they'd established over five years of exploring primitive societies. They pretended Major Carter was Colonel O'Neill's wife to protect her from the roving gangs of other prisoners. However, they were not prisoners to the Goa'uld. They were livestock. I must beg my client's forgiveness for my bluntness, but a brood mare that does not reproduce has no value and will be 'put down.' To buy time to plan their escape, they were forced to make their pretense real. They did it right regardless of the regulations they broke. They came home _**alive,**_" he argued placing forceful emphasis on the last word before sitting down signaling the end of his opening statement. As soon as he returned to his seat, he leaned over and murmured an apology for his blunt, but necessary, words to Sam who murmured the forgiveness he'd asked for with an understanding smile.

"General Moore, you may call your first witness," Pierce ordered.

"Prosecution calls Dr. Daniel Jackson," Colonel Rivers said. Janet squeezed his hand as Daniel once again rose from his seat in the gallery and took the stand. Rivers swore Daniel in as a witness then asked him to describe his last mission with the defendants. Next he questioned Daniel about the notebook that was obviously the center-piece of the prosecution's case. Daniel identified it as the notebook Sam had been carrying when she and O'Neill had been captured and confirmed that she'd handed it to him on their return through the Stargate. He was asked to confirm the handwriting was indeed that of O'Neill and Carter. The defense objected more out of form than anything else.

"Overruled," Pierce decided. "Dr. Jackson is certainly familiar with his teammates' handwriting."

"Dr. Jackson, please read the underlined passages," Rivers requested.

Daniel nodded as he adjusted his glasses to rest more comfortably on the bridge of his nose. He cleared his throat then began to read passages from the journal. The passages Colonel Rivers had marked for Daniel to read had obviously been carefully chosen to highlight the emotions of their relationship and not the reasons behind it. The final entry in the journal he had Daniel read was the letter of good bye his colleagues had left for him. 

_Dear Daniel,  
There's a lot Jack and I want to tell you. The most important is thank you. Thank you for being our friend. You're enriched our lives so much over the years. You've made us better people. That's why if the twins survive and we don't, we want you and Janet to raise them. Jack doesn't have any close family, and well, you know how Mark feels about the military. We want them to be raised by people who knew both of us, and by someone who can tell them, if not how we died at least why. Why we chose to serve our country. You'll know what to say when they ask about us, Daniel. You usually do. You'll..._

Daniel paused to clear his throat, but when he continued his voice was still clogged with emotion.

_You'll make a wonderful father for J.D. and Gina. _

_Jack and I have one final order for you and Teal'c. Don't feel guilty about what's happened. We were doing our jobs. We knew the risk we were taking. It was the right decision, and you and Teal'c made the right decision in staying hidden. There was nothing you could have done to stop this. We regret nothing._

_ Sam and Jack_

"Thank you, Doctor Jackson," Colonel Rivers said as he retrieved the journal from Daniel. 

"Cross examination," the judge commanded.

There was an intense frown on his face as Admiral Chegwidden slowly stood. "Doctor Jackson," A.J. said addressing the younger man. "As their teammate, have you ever seen Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill act in a way that would indicate their feelings for one another were less more professional?"

Daniel took a deep breath before carefully answering, "Due to the nature of our work, our team has become very close. If you're asking if I've ever seen any indication of a sexual relationship between them before this, no. They're friendly colleagues. I know they work very hard to avoid even the appearance of impropriety."

"Please describe the incident with the entity that invaded the base mainframe," A.J. requested. Through their discussions, the JAG lawyers had decided that this incident would be key in proving to the members of the court that prior to their captivity on Panersh, O'Neill and Carter had always behaved in a professional manner even under the most difficult of circumstances. It would also serve to show just how outside of the normal realm of military operations the SGC was. When Daniel ended his story with O'Neill shooting Carter with the zat twice, Chegwidden asked, "What is the significance of that, Doctor Jackson?"

"The first shot with a zat stuns. The second generally kills," he answered. "The third disintegrates."

"Major Carter survived," Chegwidden pointed out.

"Her body survived," Daniel dis agreed. "The consciousness inside, the entity, was destroyed. We...we thought she was brain dead. We were about to take her off life support when she somehow managed to communicate with us. It had put _**her**_ inside the mainframe. We took her body down to the 'nest' and somehow she was able to put herself back into her body."

Daniel continued to answer questions posed by the admiral for several more hours before A.J. finally announced, "I have no further questions for this witness at this time."

Pierce checked his watch. "It's late," he declared. "We'll adjourn for the day and begin with the prosecution's next witness tomorrow morning at eight." With that pronouncement he banged his gavel and dismissed court for the day.


	20. Chapter 20

"What the Hell!" A.J. growled as he pulled his SUV into the driveway in front of his house. 

His exclamation turned Jacob's attention away from the back seat of the vehicle where his daughter slept lightly in the arms of Jack O'Neill. "How did she get here?" he asked.

There was something in his voice that had Jack leaning forward from the back seat to see what the two older men were talking about. His shift in position was enough to wake Sam from her light doze. "Janet's going to kill her," Jack predicted as Sam opened her eyes. She sat up straighter in the seat and looked in the same direction as the men to see Cassie sitting on the front steps of A.J.'s house.

"Not if I get to her first," Sam vowed already pushing open the door as the vehicle rocked to a stop. She was out the door jogging towards the teenager as soon as her feet touched the ground. She heard other car doors slam as Harm and Mac parked their cars in the driveway as well. Sam was aware of Jack and the others close on her heels. "What are you doing here?!" she demanded as she nonetheless grabbed the teenager in a tight hug.

Cassie looked at A.J. and the other two JAG lawyers before grabbing Sam and Jack by the arm and dragging them a few yards away. "G. Gordon's on the back deck," she said quietly to them. 

"What!" Jack hissed quietly glancing over at where the others stood watching. "Is he nuts coming here?!"

"He showed up at the house. He'd been shot," Cassie explained. "I patched him up. He has information for you, but he was afraid to use the phones. I didn't think he'd be able to make it here on his own so I came with him."

Jack and Sam exchanged a look conversing without words. Finally Jack called over to the others, "Jacob. Teal'c. Daniel." He gestured for them to follow with a jerk of his head. "Stay here," he ordered Cassie as he and Sam walked around the side of the house with the others following behind.

"Hey Jack," Harry called tiredly from where he slouched in one of the wooden chairs on the deck.

"Harry," Jack said. The disapproving tone of his voice couldn't be missed. "What the Hell were you thinking dragging Cassie into this?"

"Like that teenager could be dragged anywhere," Harry retorted with a snort that turned into a grimace of pain. He curled in on himself placing a protective hand to the wound in his side.

"Let me see," Sam demanded pushing his hand away. She lifted his borrowed shirt out of the way then ripped the bandage away. Jack turned away to hide his grin as Harry swore a blue streak in the air. It was a grin shared with Daniel and Jacob. "I'm going to kill you, Harry, for getting Cassie involved in this."

"It's not my fault!" Harry protested. "That is one stubborn girl."

"He's got a point there, Sam" her father told her.

"What was important enough for you to involve Cassie in a felony?" Sam snapped as she probed the edges of the wound.

"The file," he said pointing to papers resting on the table. 

Jack grabbed it from the table. As soon as he opened it his eyes were drawn to his own name. He'd read less than a paragraph of the first page before he found himself reaching to lower himself into one of the chairs. "You'll live," Sam declared as she reapplied the bandages to Harry's wound.

"I think I should be the judge of that, don't you?" Janet asked as she and Cassie walked around the side of the house. Thankfully their attorneys didn't appear to be following.

"Janet!" Sam hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Obeying the oath I took as a doctor. I'm already implicated, Sam" she told her friend. "His blood is all over my couch. His bloody clothes are in my trash. My daughter just brought him across the country. Besides, if I know Colonel O'Neill he's already got a plan."

Both women turned to the man in question, but the smirk they expected to see on his face didn't appear. "Jack?" Sam asked. 

Jack lifted his eyes to meet Sam's. "They were after the samples from Argos and Shi'fu," Jack told her quietly as he passed the file to her. 

Sam read for a minute as Janet examined Harry's wound. "You'll be fine," Janet told the former NID agent. Sam handed the file to her friend then walked away without a word.

Jack rose to go after her, but was halted by Daniel's restraining hand on his shoulder. "I think I should go, Jack" Daniel told his friend. Jack thought about it for a moment then nodded. He knew very well that he and Sam were walking on eggshells around one another trying to keep their emotions in check. They were too tied to one another to do anything else. Both he and Sam realized that if either of them lost it, it would push the other over the edge as well. At any other time, she might have spoken to Janet, but Janet blamed herself for not stopping the kidnapping. Sam wouldn't add to her guilt by crying on her shoulder, and while Sam's relationship with Jacob was better than it had been, he doubted either of them would be able to break a lifetime pattern of behavior. She would talk to Daniel though.

Harm saw her coming around the corner of the house and almost spoke up before he noticed the expression on her face. "Sir," he said sotto voiced to the admiral as he nodded in her direction. Before A.J. was forced to decide what he should do, Daniel came jogging around the corner catching up with Carter.

"Sam!" he called as he grabbed her arm and turned her around pulling her into his arms. 

That physical contact was all she needed to break the wall she'd placed around her emotions. Sam burst into tears. "Daniel," she sobbed. He didn't say anything though. He just held her as she cried. 

Over her shoulder, Daniel saw the JAG lawyers watching. "Admiral, why don't you go back to the office for a few hours and take Commander Rabb and Colonel McKenzie with you," he suggested. "We'll be here when you get back," he added noting the dubious expression on their faces. Daniel could see the admiral debating with himself before he finally nodded. 

"I'll give you three hours, Dr. Jackson," Chegwidden told the archaeologist. "Then we need to work on strategy for the rest of this trial."

"Three hours," Daniel confirmed. He watched he lawyers pile into A.J.'s SUV while he continued to console Sam. As soon as the SUV had backed out of the driveway Daniel asked, "Are you okay now, Sam?"

"I'm afraid I'm going to lose him too," she admitted softly. "And then I feel guilty because I should be worried about the twins." There was no need for her to explain further. They both knew who 'he' was. 

"You are worried about the twins," Daniel said. "You're just worried about him too. And if...if the worst happens, Sam, it won't be like when Charlie died."

"How can you be so sure?" she demanded.

"He's not the same man he was then, Sam" Daniel said. "And you're not Sara. He doesn't talk about it much, but I know she blamed him. You'd never blame him, and you wouldn't shut him out either."

"What if he shuts me out?" Sam asked. 

"Well, that's the other thing that's different now. Jack's got a family now to take care of him," Daniel reminded her. "It's not just the two of you, Sam. You've got lots of people to help you."

Daniel waited for her to think about what he'd said. Finally she nodded. As she wiped the tears from her eyes she gave him a knowing look and asked, "Daniel, how did your clothes end up at Janet's? That is your shirt Harry's wearing." 

Daniel blushed. "Janet and I..."

"Really? We need to get to work, Daniel, but I'm going to want to know more later," she warned her friend. She led the way back to the deck where the others were now discussing the file Harry had brought them. "Daniel got A.J. to give us three hours alone," she told them as she approached. "So let's make the most of it."

"I've been thinking," Jack said. "If we can't get to the twins, let's see if we can get to Kinsey."

"And force him to have the twins brought to him and therefore to us," Sam said following his logic. She pulled the sliding glass door open and entered the admiral's house with the others following on her heels. She quickly got her laptop out and connected to the internet while the men poured over the pictures and notes of the compound where they believed the children were being held. Janet in the meantime was going over the notes Harry had wrested away from the NID burglars leaving Cassie to raid the kitchen for food for all of them. 

"I'm in," Sam announced. It had taken her almost an hour to break into Kinsey's computer. 

Jack and the others abandoned what they'd been doing to peer over Sam's shoulder. "Progress reports," Janet said pointing to a series of e-mails. "Print those out," she commanded. 

"His schedule," Jacob said. "See if you can pull it up." A minute later and Sam had the information on the screen.

"He's cancelled just about everything," Jack snarled. "Claiming illness."

"He knows we're in DC," Sam said as she pounded away at the keyboard. "He has to know we suspect him."

"What's this?" Daniel asked pointing to one meeting that hadn't been cancelled.

"Meeting with the President at Camp David," Sam murmured. "In four days."

"He won't cancel that," Harry predicted. "With the shake-up in DC since the JLA crash he can't afford to."

"Do we have four days?" Daniel asked.

It was Janet that answered. "Rivera's reports indicate he's going to test the nanites on animals first. Kinsey's given him ten days," she read. 

"So we have at most ten days," Daniel said.

"Sam, find us plans of Camp David," Jack ordered. 


	21. Chapter 21

"Prosecution calls Major Janet Frasier to the stand," Rivers announced from where he stood behind the prosecutor's table the next morning. He watched as Janet rose from her seat in the gallery next to Daniel and walked to the witness box. Colonel Rivers put her under oath then wasted no time beginning his questioning. "Major Frasier you were the physician that attended Major Carter at the birth of her children?" he asked.

"Yes," Frasier confirmed. "I delivered Major Carter's twins by cesarean section nineteen days ago."

"After their birth, did you perform a paternity test on the infants?" the colonel asked.

"Yes," Janet answered. 

"The test confirmed that Colonel O'Neill is the children's father?" Rivers questioned.

"Yes," she said.

"How certain are the results of this test?" the attorney inquired.

"Over ninety-nine percent," Janet said.

Rivers nodded at her answer as he paced in front of the witness stand. In his hand he held a thick manila folder. "In Major Carter's records there is a note stating you had become concerned about Major Carter's health some two and a half years ago. Do you remember what caused this concern?" he queried.

"She was working extremely long hours in order to build a particle accelerator to rescue Colonel O'Neill," Janet replied. Pierce and several members of the jury seemed surprised at this frank reply, but Chegwidden and his two cohorts had expected this question and ordered Janet to answer without prevaricating. 

"Just how long was this?" Rivers asked.

"She worked over eighteen hours a day for nearly three months," Janet answered.

The prosecutor turned to the members of the court as soon as the words left Janet's mouth. The expression on his face clearly asked 'And we're expected to believe there was nothing going on before?' It was a question the rules of evidence prevented him from asking. Instead he said, "No further questions. The prosecution rests." It was clear from the smug look on his face he'd intended for this to startle the defense. In A.J.'s mind this was another clear indication that Rivers was more a politician than a real attorney. If he'd expected to shock the defendants and their attorneys, he was disappointed. There had never been any doubt that with these two witnesses alone the prosecution would prove the fraternization had happened. As Major Carter herself had said, denial wasn't exactly an option in this case. They weren't after a not guilty verdict. Their sole aim was to minimize the punishment O'Neill and Carter would receive. Besides, for their defense to work either Carter or O'Neill had to take the stand. Rivers was certain to make points in his cross-examination.

"Defense may cross examine the witness" Judge Pierce said with a small wave of his hand.

"Thank you, your honor" Lt. Colonel McKenzie said as she stood and walked towards the witness stand. The Marine lawyer consulted a piece of paper she held in her hand before asking, "Major Frasier, how long did Major Carter work to disconnect the Stargate from the wormhole on P3W-451?"

"23 hours without stop," Janet answered.

"And when SG-10 became stranded on PR4-3J8?" Mac asked.

"Over eighteen hours a day for three weeks," the SGC's chief medical officer replied. 

Mac nodded then continued down the list in her hand presenting a pattern of behavior that had nothing to do with O'Neill and everything to do with Samantha Carter's own ethics and sense of loyalty. "Barring these kinds of emergencies what are her work hours like?" Mac asked.

"Objection!" Rivers called out. "Major Frasier..."

"...is the chief medical officer for the SGC and Major Carter's best friend," Mac interrupted. "She is perfectly familiar with Major Carter's work habits."

"Overruled," Pierce decreed. "You may answer the question, Major."

"She's been known to stay in her lab until someone drags her out," Janet answered.

"You?" Mac asked.

"Or one of her teammates," Janet confirmed.

"Colonel O'Neill?" Mac asked. Colonel River's poorly hid his glee though General Moore's expression continued to be unreadable. He perhaps realized that this line of questioning wasn't to the prosecution's advantage. 

"Yes, Dr. Jackson has a similar work habit," Janet explained. "Colonel O'Neill generally gives them both a couple days then drags one or both of them away from their work to make them eat and rest."

Mac paced in front of the jury box for several seconds letting Frasier's answer sink in. She could tell that a few of the members of the court had understood the implication that Colonel O'Neill took care of his teammates, all of them not just Carter. It was something that the defense attorneys intended to make very clear before this trial was over. "Why did you need to deliver Major Carter by cesarean?" she asked switching gears in her questioning.

"When Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill arrived back on Earth they were both severely injured," the petite doctor explained. "In fact, their son had been injured in utero."

Mac pulled the TV/VCR unit Dr. Jackson had used the previous day back out into the courtroom. "Dr. Frasier, I'm going to show you a tape of the defendants' return to Earth. Will you please describe the injuries we see?" she requested.

"I must renew my objection, your honor!" Colonel Rivers protested. "This tape is grossly prejudicial."

"Your honor, our defense is predicated on the fact that Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter believed they would not survive unless they broke the fraternization regulations," Mac argued knowing full well that the tape would be extremely difficult to get into evidence. No one who saw it could doubt that O'Neill and Carter had been through a horrifying ordeal during their captivity. "This tape shows precisely what they feared."

"She's right," Pierce decided. "I'm going to allow the tape in."

The prosecuting attorney took his seat once more with a very unhappy expression on his face.

As the tape played showing Carter's bloody hand appear on the ramp, Janet said, "Colonel O'Neill had a half dozen wounds from a low-powered staff weapon to his back. There were bruises over the majority of his body. He had seven cracked and five broken ribs, and there were burns from a shock stick on his torso." By this time Sam's arm had emerged from the wormhole. "Major Carter had a like number of wounds from a staff weapon to the front of her torso. These injuries appeared to have been sustained at a closer range than O'Neill's. She had dried blood around her ears, nose, and eyes, but there was no apparent sign of injury leading me to suspect she'd been the victim of a ribbon device," Janet continued. Daniel and Teal'c arrived on the tape at this point to tug their two friends the rest of the way onto the ramp. "She was already in heavy labor when she came through the Gate."

"What conclusion did you reach concerning the dried blood?" Mac asked.

"Shortly after their return both Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill began exhibiting signs of withdrawal," Janet said. "This led me to believe they'd been healed in a sarcophagus, probably repeatedly over a short period of time. Repeated use of a sarcophagus causes a form of addiction "

"What kind of sarcophagus are you talking about? A coffin for a mummy?" Mac asked though she knew the correct answer.

"A goa'uld healing device," Janet corrected. "It does resemble a coffin. When placed inside it, a sarcophagus can heal humans of injuries up to and including death."

"What caused the dried blood then?" the Marine colonel asked again.

"As I said, I suspected at that point that the goa'uld had used a ribbon device on her. Major Carter has since confirmed this to me. The human brain can only withstand a few minutes before severe brain damage occurs," Frasier explained. "When a ribbon device is used such as it was on Major Carter it causes a great deal of pain with physical damage limited to burns on the face and head and trauma to the brain. Major Carter most likely suffered a massive stroke or other brain injury which was then healed in the sarcophagus."

"Did you find evidence of other healed injuries?" the JAG lawyer asked.

"There was scarring over seventy percent of Colonel O'Neill's back consistent with the flogging Major Carter described in their journal. He also had numerous smaller scars on his hands and arms," Janet answered. "Major Carter's arm had a healed over break. She too had scars on her hands and arms."

"Do either of the defendants have any lingering medical problems?" Mac asked.

"They're both severely malnourished bordering on starvation," Frasier answered. "Major Carter's condition is more severe than Colonel O'Neill's, and her treatment is complicated by her inability to accept blood transfusions. Anemia is the most pressing danger to her health right now."

"Thank you, Major. I have no further questions for this witness," Mac announced.

"You may step down," the judge told Frasier. He then checked his watch. "We'll take ninety minutes for lunch then reconvene at one o'clock," he announced as he brought his gavel down. "Court dismissed."


	22. Chapter 22

"Defense calls Major Samantha Carter to the stand," Admiral Chegwidden announced as he rose to stand from behind the defense table. Sam rose and walked quickly to the witness stand. After Janet's testimony the previous morning, their attorneys had called her father and Teal'c to testify. Neither man's testimony had taken long. Jacob had been asked about how he became involved in the SGC and his observations of the relationship between she and Jack. Teal'c had been asked similar questions about his own entry into the SGC and the interactions between the members of SG-1. His testimony had actually taken longer than Jacob's as Harm had asked Teal'c to describe past mission incidents. Their testimony had mainly been to lay the groundwork for she and Jack. After swearing her in, A.J. asked, "Please state your name and rank for the record."

"Major Samantha Carter," she replied. 

"Major Carter, please describe for the court your daily existence during your captivity on Panersh," Chegwidden requested.

Sam swallowed as she nodded. "We were awakened at dawn each day by the sounding of a kind of horn. The slaves gathered in the central square of the camp where the morning meal was distributed. The majority of the women were then taken into the fields to work. A few went into the mines with the men. The women in the mines separated the naquadah ore while the men did the digging and smelting. At midday we were given a second meal then allowed to rest for two hours before finishing the day," Sam explained. "At the end of the day we returned to the square where the evening meal was distributed."

A.J. noted the reactions on the faces of the members of the court throughout Carter's explanation. Many appeared to dismiss the harshness of what she described. Who could imagine slaves getting a nap during the day? "Major, how long is a day on Panersh?" he asked.

"Twenty eight hours," Sam said. 

"So the morning shift was eight hours long then you were allowed to rest for two hours before working a second eight hour shift?" A.J. asked wanting to make sure the members of the court understood clearly. "Sixteen hours a day you labored."

"Yes," Sam confirmed.

"What about as your pregnancy advanced?" the admiral asked. "Surely they didn't make you work then?"

"The sorters were usually the most heavily pregnant of the women. They were allowed to sit on stools next to the conveyor. Only the strong survive on Panersh," she told him. "Jack gave me a portion of his own food each day to help me keep my strength up as the babies developed."

"How much food were you given in these meals?" Chegwidden queried.

"A piece of bread and a bowl of soup," Carter informed him. "Sometimes a vegetable from the fields if I could sneak it past the guards."

"How much do you currently weigh, Major?" 

"Eighty-two pounds," Sam admitted with a grimace.

"What is your normal weight?"

"One hundred eighteen."

"When you were captured what happened to your handgun?" A.J. asked.

"Colonel O'Neill ordered that we ditch them when we were first taken through the 'Gate."

"Why?"

"As far as the jaffa knew we were just a couple of natives," Sam explained. "We couldn't let them find out we were Tau'ri. We kept our knives, but the hand guns would have given us away."

"Tau'ri?" the admiral asked.

"Tau'ri are what the goa'uld call people from Earth," Sam informed him.

"What would have happened if the goa'uld had found out you were Tau'ri?" A.J. asked pausing over the last word.

"Objection!" Rivers protested. "Calls for speculation."

"I'll rephrase," A.J. acquiesced to Rivers. "What happened on Panersh when the goa'uld did find out you were Tau'ri?"

Sam swallowed then took a deep breath. "Panersh has no Stargate, and only once a Panersh year does a ship arrive," she said. "We had to get ourselves taken aboard the ship. For fifteen months we tried to think of a way, but the only one we came up with was to reveal ourselves as Tau'ri. I was only a few weeks from giving birth when the ship arrived." Sam's eyes had lost focus as she spoke, and she swayed a little in her seat in the witness stand. "The goa'uld who rules Panersh has the slaves assembled in the square each year when she comes to collect her 'crop' and the processed naquadah from the mine." 

A.J. poured a glass of water from the pitcher on the defense table and brought it to her. "Take your time," he said gently.

Sam nodded her thanks as she took a sip. "I pretended to break down. I threw myself at her feet begging for my babies' lives. I told her we were Tau'ri and that I would tell her anything she wanted as long as she'd let my children go," Sam said as her eyes once again lost focus. "That was the colonel's signal. He slapped me. Told me to keep my mouth shut."

"Revealing himself as Tau'ri as well," A.J. stated.

"Yes," she confirmed. "It worked. We were taken aboard the ship. The System Lords have a bounty on our heads. We hoped that she would sell us to one of the major System Lords for the bounty. She's well known for her avarice. Not that one goa'uld is really any better than another, but the major System Lords are always under surveillance from the Tok'ra. Once we were in the hands of someone like Yu or Osiris word would have reached Earth through them that we were alive."

"So what happened after you were brought aboard her ship?" the admiral asked.

"We were taken to a room and chained to opposite walls. That's when we saw the sarcophagus," Sam related. She sat so straight in the seat it appeared as if her spine really was made of steel. Her entire body radiated extreme tension, and the color had slowly drained from her face. "The goa'uld came into the room and introduced herself. She said she was Eszia daughter of Ra and Hathor and that she was pleased to finally meet O'Neill and Carter of the Tau'ri," Sam said. Sam's hand shook as she grabbed the glass of water and brought it to her mouth to take a sip. 

"What did she do after she introduced herself?" The admiral stood with his arms across his chest as he asked the question. 

"She started on the colonel," Sam said in a shaky voice. "She was covered in his blood by the time she had the jaffa put him in the sarcophagus. She came at me then. She said she'd already accepted payment for the babies. She didn't want to give it back," Carter explained choking back a sob. "She...she used the ribbon device on me instead of the more bloody things she'd done to Jack."

Sam spent the next hour describing the days of torture she and O'Neill had endured at the hands of Eszia. "Thank you," A.J. told her as she paused to regain her composure. He knew she hadn't even begun to describe all that she and Jack had endured over those brief days, but the point had been made. A.J. could see the reaction of the members of the court. He wanted them to remember this but not get fixated on it. "How did you finally make your escape?"

"I went into labor," Carter informed him. "She ordered a single guard to take me back down to the surface for the babies to be born then bring me back. As he was walking me back to the rings, I had another contraction. I let myself fall against him. While he was holding me upright I lifted the zat holstered at his waist. As soon as I was back on my feet, I shot him then made my way back down to the colonel. I had surprise on my side. When I entered the room, I was already firing. I took them out then released Colonel O'Neill from his restraints."

"You then found your way to the Stargate aboard the ship and dialed out to Cimmeria?" Chegwidden asked.

"Yes," Carter confirmed. "It was hardly the first time we'd escaped from a goa'uld mothership. We were almost to the 'Gate when the guards entered. They shot the colonel. He told me to go, but I couldn't leave him there. I turned and fired back. I was hit twice before I had downed the last of them. Luckily they were guards from the planet so their weapons were the lower powered staffs used to herd slaves. They cause damage at close range but generally don't kill. We were only a few feet from the Stargate when they revived so I just kept dragging the colonel through. I must have been hit a couple more times. When we got to Cimmeria I retrieved the emergency GDO and dialed Earth."

"Weren't you afraid the jaffa would follow you through?" A.J. asked.

"There's a device on Cimmeria that guards against jaffa and goa'uld. They can't go there," Sam informed him. "That's why I suggested Cimmeria in the first place."

"Let's take a break," Pierce ordered bringing his gavel down sharply. "Ten minutes."


	23. Chapter 23

"Where are your clients, Commander?" Judge Pierce asked as he sank into his comfortable seat behind the bench in the courtroom.

"They're indisposed at the moment, your honor" Harm said from where he stood behind the defendant's table. Beside him Lt. Colonel Sara McKenzie also stood with her back ramrod straight. They both appeared distracted.

Pierce's eyes narrowed as he thought about Harm's response. "Counsel approach the bench," he ordered. The prosecuting attorneys rose and approached the bench with Harm and Mac. As soon as they reached him, Pierce covered the microphone in front of him. "What's going on, Commander?"

"Your honor, we just forced Major Carter to relive being tortured for days..." Rabb began to explain.

"Spare me the histrionics, Commander," Pierce ordered.

"Major Carter's in the bathroom revisiting her lunch," Harm explained delicately. "Colonel O'Neill, Doctor Frasier, and Admiral Chegwidden are with her."

A small muscle ticked in Pierce's cheek. "Step back," he ordered. "Court will be in recess for another ten minutes." He slammed the gavel down on the wooden surface of the bench then rose. When he stalked past the attorneys at their tables, Mac and Harm shared a look bordering on panic as they each reached the same conclusion as to where the jurist was headed. They followed him from the courtroom down the hall to where Admiral Chegwidden and a worried Janet Frasier stood guard outside the ladies bathroom. "Your clients are in there?" Pierce demanded of Chegwidden as he approached the older man.

"Yes, sir" Chegwidden replied unconsciously extending the respect shown the judge in the courtroom to the outside even though in reality A.J. was the ranking officer. "Your honor, I think we should give them a little privacy."

"Privacy?!" Pierce hissed. "They're charged with fraternization, and you want me to give them some privacy?" Without waiting for a reply Pierce pushed opened the door and stalked inside. Pierce swept the room with his gaze before zeroing in on the two officers kneeling on the floor as they clung to one another. Pierce opened his mouth to reprimand them but snapped it shut again as his mind caught up with his anger and he finally began to process the scene in front of him. Colonel O'Neill held Major Carter close to his chest as he murmured a comforting litany to her. The two of them sat on the floor of the far stall. Pierce's nose told him that Rabb had been speaking the truth about Carter's last meal making a sudden reappearance. O'Neill's chin rested on the top of her head as he rocked them both back and forth. Pierce doubted Carter heard O'Neill's words as her body shook with the force of her crying. He stepped back out of the bathroom belatedly giving them the privacy Chegwidden had requested. He turned to see both the prosecuting and defense attorneys waiting for him to say something. "Do you think your client can pull herself together in ten minutes?" he asked Chegwidden.

"Yes, sir" A.J. said after receiving a nod from Frasier. 

"Very well," Pierce said. "We'll reconvene in ten minutes."

Inside the bathroom, Jack continued to rock Sam gently in his arms as they knelt on the cold tile floor. "We're alive, Sam" Jack whispered to Sam. "It's over. We both survived. We're home. It's over. We're on Earth. We're alive. We're free, baby."

She sobbed all the harder and clutched at him as if her very life depended on it. "No more, Jack" she whimpered into his shoulder. "Please God...no more. I can't..."

"Yes, you can, Carter" O'Neill argued slipping back into the role of commanding officer for a moment then his face softened and he was once more her lover. "You did great this morning, honey. Just a few more hours," he cajoled as he stroked her short blonde hair. "Then we'll go back to A.J.'s where's Janet's going to let us have a steak and a beer for dinner." She lifted her head from his shoulder. The expression on her face said more than words could that she didn't believe him. "Okay. A grilled chicken breast," he admitted. "A.J.'s going to sneak us the beer though after Daniel takes Janet, Cassie, and Teal'c out to see the sites in D.C."

"In the condition we're in one beer will get us wasted," Sam warned as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Yeah, well...near starvation has to have some perks right?" O'Neill joked as he got up off the floor as well.

She was only a little unsteady as she walked over to the sink to rinse her mouth of the taste of bile. "Let's get this over with," she said as she turned towards the bathroom door.

Jack placed his hand on the door catching her before she could open it. "You alright?" he asked. His eyes were already searching her face for the answer to his question.

"I won't be alright until this is over and we have our children back," Sam replied honestly. "But I'll keep it together." He still wouldn't let her open the door though.

"I won't break, Sam" he assured her. Jack was a man of few words, but she read what he couldn't bring himself to say aloud in his eyes. _ 'Lean on me,'_ they begged. It was the same thing Daniel had offered only two days ago. She hadn't thought she had any more tears in her for now, but she found she was wrong as Jack draped his arm loosely around her waist. She returned the gesture in kind as she pressed her forehead to his cheek. They stood like that for perhaps a minute, but to each of them it seemed like an eternity. 

Sam closed her eyes and let this moment seep into her washing away the stress and horror of what she'd relived this morning. She listened to Jack breathing close to her ear and felt each breath as it ruffled her hair. Her hand on his back felt the smooth fabric of the jacket of his dress uniform and underneath it the rise and fall of the prominent ridges of his ribs in his still too thin frame. Her other hand rested on the ribbons of his uniform beneath which she felt the steady beating of his heart. It was a rhythm she had learned well on Panersh as she'd fallen asleep often with her head pillowed on his chest. Sam breathed in the clean smell of his aftershave and the subtler scent of his soap. She felt the warmth of his skin where it pressed against her face. The images of him dying again and again at Eszia's hands faded as her senses confirmed the reality that he lived.

Sam briefly wondered what Rivers and the gossips at the SGC would think were they to know that this simple act of comfort was better than sex to the two of them. Not that the sex wasn't great because it was, but the way their sexual relationship had begun had left a taint to it that they still felt in some small way. They had waited so long for the time to be right to take that next step only to have the choice taken from them. As they'd huddled close together to conserve body heat on the cold Panersh nights, they'd spoken of how they'd once dreamed of taking that next step. They'd woven fantasies about a first date where he'd take her to an expensive restaurant where they'd share a meal and talk about anything and everything that didn't have to do with the military or maybe it would have been a picnic in the park. It had surprised neither of them to find that each had fantasized of a slow courtship instead of a quick hop into bed. They'd both looked forward to savoring that time as they finally allowed themselves to get to know each other as Sam and Jack instead of Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter. It was just one more thing stolen from them by the goa'uld. They were both determined that there would be no more.

For years they had forced themselves to be content with much more subtle gestures than this embrace: a special brightness in her eyes as she smiled at him, an answering smirk from him, his finger grazing the back of her hand as they walked side by side inside the warrens of the SGC, a shared snack in the commissary while working on reports, a cup of coffee brought to her in the lab, or a TiVo'd recording of the hockey game and pizza snuck into the infirmary to relieve his boredom. On Panersh it had been different, the displays of affection were much more blatant and public than this, but for the most part it had been just that, a display meant to help secure their safety. This was different. There were no barriers now as there had been before Panersh, but also no witnesses. This embrace was for them alone and all the more precious to both of them for it.

Jack allowed himself a quick kiss to Sam's forehead as he pulled back from their embrace. He watched her work to steady her breathing as she grabbed a paper towel and wiped the tear tracks from her face. "I love you," he said. 

It should have startled her, the way he said it with as little emotion as the weekend anchor on the local news reporting on the stock market gains or last night's hockey scores. _ 'Well, maybe not hockey,'_ Sam thought as she favored him with a smile. _ 'Jack can't talk about hockey without getting at least a little excited.'_ This wasn't the impassioned declaration so often heard and seen in movies and television. It was simply what was. Jack loved her. She loved him in return. "Jack, let's get married," Sam said.

He lifted an eyebrow. Sam opened her mouth to explain, but Jack pressed his index finger to her lips to silence her. The laugh lines at the corners of his eyes deepened as he looked at her letting Sam know he understood. Their fantasy courtship hadn't been the only one they'd indulged in during those long months of captivity. They'd also fantasized about what their life would be like when they escaped or were rescued. Together they had imagined an idealized life of nine to five work and backyard barbeques complete with a dog for the kids. Their fantasies hadn't obscured the almost certain reality of a lifetime of slavery on Panersh or death that had lurked at the back of their minds. Since their return from Thor's ship they'd been forced to re-evaluate that fantasy knowing much of it would have to be jettisoned if they were going to rescue their children and keep them safe. This one piece of that fantasy could still be a reality though. "I'll see if A.J. can help us set it up," Jack answered. He twined his fingers with hers as he looked at her with chocolate brown eyes that promised a lifetime of love no matter what else the future held for them.

Sam squeezed his hand in return as Jack removed his hand from the door and they exited the bathroom. Sam murmured reassurances to Janet as she led the way back into the courtroom. Janet took her seat in the gallery and the other three returned to the defendant's table. 

"All rise," the court officer intoned as Pierce returned to his seat at the bench. "Court is now in session."


	24. Chapter 24

Jacob sighed to himself as he waited with Daniel at the gate for his son Mark's plane to arrive at Dulles International Airport. After several days of testimony for the defense, they would finally hear closing arguments today, and tonight Sam and Jack would be married. It had been an awkward phone call he and Sam had made from A.J.'s study the previous night informing Mark of the events of the last few weeks and asking him to fly to D.C. to be present at Sam's wedding. The tentative reconciliation forged between father and son since his blending with Selmak had taken quite a beating when Sam had been declared MIA. George Hammond had offered to perform the sad task of informing Mark for him, but Jacob had declined. So Jacob, accompanied by Daniel Jackson and Janet Frasier, had gone to his son's California home fourteen months ago and told Mark his sister was missing. That the police had not been called to the Carter home was a testament to Daniel's diplomatic skills and Selmak's keen sense of when to take command of their shared body. Mark had been happy for Sam's return and resentful of their inability to explain fully what had happened to Sam. She had told him the cover story that had been decided upon. 

Supposedly she and Jack had been on temporary duty in Columbia helping the government set up satellite surveillance on the cartels when they'd been captured by the very drug lords they were supposed to be helping to catch. The rest of the story was pretty much the truth. Jack had claimed her as his wife to keep the drug runners away from her. In this fictionalized version of the truth they had overpowered their captors then spent the next two weeks walking out of the jungle. Jacob had been forced to take over the story at this point as Sam choked back silent sobs as she had tried to tell Mark about the twins. There the story strayed once again from the absolute truth. Jacob had told Mark the twins had been born in a hospital in Bogotá before Sam and Jack could be transferred to a military hospital. As far as anyone outside the SGC was concerned, including Mark, the twins had been taken by someone in the hospital. Black market adoptions weren't unheard of from that region, and two white newborns would bring enough for the fictional kidnapper to live in comfort for the rest of his or her life. 

The silence on the other end of the phone had been deafening until the screaming started.

"He looks pissed, Jacob" Daniel remarked quietly as Mark strode towards them among the throng of other passengers disembarking from the American Airlines flight.

"Yeah, well, what did you expect? He's got the Carter temper," Jacob reminded Daniel. "Just like Sam and I. He'll stay mad until Hell freezes over unless someone intervenes. Let's hope the twins have Jack's temper instead."

"Blows like Mt. St. Helens," Daniel agreed with a chuckle, "but then it's over."

Jacob nodded just before he stepped forward to embrace his son in a heartfelt, but awkward, hug. "Hi, son" Jacob greeted Mark. "You have any bags to claim?"

"No," Mark answered. The frosty tone of his voice confirmed to the other two men that Mark was still very much angry. "You said the trial was almost over so I don't expect to stay long."

"Yeah," Jacob agreed. He gestured with his head for Daniel to lead the way back to the rental car. Daniel nodded before heading off a few feet ahead of Jacob and Mark giving the two men some privacy to talk.

"How are the kids?" Jacob asked picking a topic he hoped would help thaw the frigid atmosphere between them.

"They're fine," Mark informed his father. "Enjoying the summer. They wanted to know where I was going."

Jacob winced at the accusing note in Mark's voice. They had asked him to keep quiet about the reason behind his trip to D.C. even to his wife and children. Jacob said nothing in return hoping to let Mark vent his anger at his father before he set eyes on his sister. Jacob silently acknowledged Selmak's opinion that his strategy wouldn't be sufficient to assuage Mark's anger. _ 'Well there's always Plan B,'_ Jacob thought silently to Selmak. Her derisive mental snort left no doubt about how she felt about that idea, but she offered no alternatives either. All of Jacob's further attempts at engaging Mark in conversation were rebuffed as they walked to the rental car. He got behind the wheel as Daniel climbed into the back seat leaving Mark the front seat next to his father. The tense silence continued as the elder Carter maneuvered the car out onto the interstate. As Jacob concentrated on driving in the heavy commuter traffic, Daniel took his turn at trying to engage Mark in conversation. His attempts were rebuffed with only slightly more politeness than he had given his father. 

"Jacob, what are you doing?" Daniel asked when he noticed the older man veering onto the off-ramp miles from the correct exit. 

Jacob didn't answer immediately. Once off the interstate he pulled into the nearest gas station and put the car in park. "Here's what's going to happen, son" he said turning in his seat to face Mark. "You're going to lose the attitude, or I'm taking you back to the airport. I'll tell Sam you missed your connection. She'll be disappointed, but at least she won't have to deal with this crap."

"You wouldn't," Mark snapped at his father.

"In a heartbeat!" Jacob growled back. "Sam and Jack are holding it together by a thread. I'm not taking you anywhere near them like this. You wanna be pissed? Fine. Be pissed in California." 

Daniel winced as he sunk deeper into the back seat and away from ground zero.

"You didn't call for two weeks!" Mark snarled.

"I didn't know for a week!" Jacob yelled back. "By the time I got here everything was already going to Hell in a handcart."

"I should have been informed," Mark stubbornly argued. "All this secrecy..."

"Don't go there, Marcus" Jacob warned his son reverting to the parents' habit of calling his son by his full name.

"Why not?" the younger Carter man demanded. "Your precious Air Force left her down there to die! Left her like you left Mom."

Jacob squeezed his eyes shut as the barb struck the still open wound of his wife's death. Jacob felt Selmak forcing him to calm down at the same time the symbiote prevented him from saying something that would further damage the relationship between father and son. "You're going to get that one for free, Mark" he told his son. "Can you keep the attitude in check or not? Because this fighting isn't getting us anywhere."

His jaw was clenched tight with rage, but Mark nodded his agreement. Jacob stared at his son searching Mark's face for the truth in that nod. After a long tense moment, he put the car into gear and headed back out onto the interstate. The rest of the trip was passed in an almost ominous silence disturbed only by the quiet noise of the radio. 

"I've got some arrangements to make for the wedding," Daniel announced as he held out his hand for the keys to the rental car.

"Can you do a little shopping for me as well, Daniel?" Jacob asked. At Daniel's nod, he pulled a list and an envelope full of cash from his pocket and handed them to the younger man. "Thanks."

"I'll be as quick as I can," Daniel told the two Carters as he opened the driver's door and slid behind the wheel. Jacob and Daniel shared a significant look that Mark remained oblivious to. 

Jacob watched the car disappear down the street before turning back to Mark. "Let's find your sister," he suggested leading the way into the building and down the corridor towards the courtroom. "You're not going to be allowed in the courtroom," Jacob reminded Mark. "The trial is..."

"Classified," Mark completed for his father. "Why am I not surprised?" 

Jacob was about to remind Mark of his attitude when Mark stopped in the middle of the corridor. He followed his son's line of sight to where Jack and Sam stood with their lawyers outside the courtroom. 

"They look like..." Mark whispered before snapping his jaw closed on the last.

"They'll recover," Jacob assured his son. He grabbed Mark's elbow and ushered him over. "Ready for closing arguments, Admiral?"

A.J. Chegwidden turned to the retired general. "Yes, sir" he confirmed. His facial expression and tone of voice exuded a calm confidence in his statement. He extended his hand to Mark who automatically took it. "You must be Mark. My name's A.J. Chegwidden. I'm your sister's attorney." Chegwidden shook hands with the younger man before introducing him to his two subordinates. 

Mark paid no attention as he pulled Sam into his arms. "I'm so glad you're safe," He whispered into her hair. Over her shoulder Mark met the concerned gaze of the man who would become his brother-in-law tonight. He finally released Sam who stepped back slightly until she was nearly touching O'Neill who stood behind her. "You must be Jack," Mark said extending his hand to the older man. 

O'Neill nodded as he shook hands with Mark. "Pleased to finally meet you," Jack told him. "Sam's told me a lot about you."

"Oh?" Mark questioned.

"We had a lot of time to talk over the last year or so," Jack informed him.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Mark struggled to find a reply until finally Harm rescued him. "We should be going in," he announced. 


	25. Chapter 25

Jack rose along with everyone else in the courtroom as the officer called court into session. Yesterday it had been his turn on the witness stand. Today's session would consist of closing arguments and, if they were lucky, a verdict. Not that it mattered. The trial had served it's purpose in lulling Kinsey into a false sense of security. Over the past three days Sam had kept track of Kinsey's communications through his computer. The meeting at Camp David was still a go for tomorrow. Kinsey continued the pretense of illness, but this one meeting with the new President was still on his schedule. So no matter what happened today it would be their last in court.

Jack glanced over to his left to see Sam rubbing her thumb across the new ring on her left hand. He smiled thinking of the plain gold band he would place beside it later tonight as he vowed to join his life to hers. He'd been surprised at how quickly the plans had come together for the ceremony. It turned out Commander Turner's father was a retired chaplain and a friend of A.J.'s. He'd easily been convinced to officiate when his son asked him on their behalf. Planning for the wedding also helped them keep their other plans covert. Jack and Sam had no wish to involve A.J. and his people in what came down to a raid on Camp David. As Jack had quipped to Daniel and Teal'c while dressing that morning, treason was such a small step up from fraternization. Even to his own ears the joke had fallen flat.

"Be seated. General Moore, you may present your closing arguments," Judge Pierce informed the lead prosecutor.

"Thank you, your honor," Moore said as he rose from his seat. He walked the short distance that would place him directly in front of the jury box. "We have heard from the defendants own mouths confirmation that they knowingly broke the regulations forbidding fraternization among officers. Their defense attorneys would have us believe that they had no choice. I submit to you that there is always a choice," Moore told them, "and choices have consequences." With the dramatic flare of a Shakespearean actor, Moore paused allowing the jury time to contemplate his words. "Both defendants knew of these consequences before they broke the regulations. They made a conscience choice, and now, regardless of what led them to that choice, they must face the consequences. Colonel O'Neill himself acknowledged that one of the consequences they might face was court-martial. We expect our soldiers to obey the code of conduct even as prisoners of war. That the prison was on another planet makes no difference," the general said. "The defense would have you disregard these facts, instead focusing on the conditions in which the defendants reached their decision. They want you to base your verdict on emotion instead of fact. Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter are unquestionably brave soldiers. We have heard testimony of actions by the defendants that have saved every man, woman and child on this planet, but you must put that aside when making your decision here today. You must base your verdict on fact. The fact remains, they are guilty of fraternization." Having completed his statement General Moore returned to his seat and nodded to Judge Pierce.

"Defense," Pierce said motioning to the jury box. 

Commander Rabb rose from his seat as he mentally made rapid adjustments to his planned statement. "Black or white. Right or wrong. These are simple distinctions, but the world is not black and white. It is filled with color and a myriad shades of gray," Harm told them, "and as I was told by their commanding officer, nothing is simple when it comes to SG-1. Right and wrong also hold a myriad shades of truth. This is something we acknowledge every day in our society and by extension our judicial system. A mentally unstable man shoots his wife. If the world were only black and white, he would automatically be found guilty of murder. Instead we place him on trial where a jury of his peers is asked to decide. It may have been murder or maybe manslaughter. Depending on the severity of his mental problems, maybe he's declared not guilty by reason of insanity. All are different shades of truth." 

Rabb looked each of the officers seated in the jury box in the eye in turn as he paused in front of them. "General Moore implied in his closing statement that Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill made the easy choice on Panersh instead of the right one, but in his closing statement he also reminded you of another choice they made. If the world were as black and white as he painted it, we'd most likely all be dead or slaves to the goa'uld now. If Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter hadn't looked at the shades of gray and decided to ignore orders, the goa'uld invasion fleet would have destroyed Earth. The easy choice then would have been to follow orders, but I think we can all agree it wouldn't have been the right choice. It is but one example of a pattern of choices made by Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter. None of them easy. A pattern started when Colonel O'Neill chose to protect the people of Abydos by reporting it destroyed and allowing Dr. Jackson to remain behind. There have been many other hard choices over the years. The easy choice for Major Carter would have been to abide by the Tok'ra decision against a treaty with Earth. Instead she chose to offer her own father as a host in the hopes of forging an alliance with the Tok'ra and possibly saving his life and many others. A choice she made even though she'd rather die herself than become a host again. When the Tok'ra, Martouf, was revealed to be a za'tarc, a brainwashed assassin, he begged a room full of armed security forces to stop him. It was Major Carter who honored that plea, though...Major Carter, whose mind holds memories of a thousand years of marriage to him. These were not easy choices. They were the right choices. Now it is your turn to make a choice. Make it the right choice, not the easy one."

Jack O'Neill listened to Judge Pierce's instructions to the members of the court with half an ear. The majority of his attention had turned inward though as he played out scenario after scenario in his mind's eye trying to find vulnerabilities in the plan they'd quietly developed over the last few days. He'd never been this nervous before a mission in his life. He remembered the gut wrenching fear he'd felt on his very first mission. He'd been green as grass and tossed his cookies both before and after that mission. That was nothing compared to what he felt now. Over the years as he'd become more confident in his own abilities, he'd become less nervous before a mission. He'd felt nervous before every mission with the noticeable exception of the first mission to Abydos. He'd felt relief then that the pain and guilt were going to be over and anticipation that he would be with his son soon. He'd felt relief and anticipation on his second mission to Abydos too but for very different reasons. He'd been relieved to finally be _**doing**_ something with his life again. The thought of going through the Stargate again and seeing Skaara and Daniel had filled him with the same kind of anticipation he'd felt as a kid the minute before the last bell rang on the last day of school. The anticipation had returned on every mission since, and so had the nervousness. Before each mission his mind played out the countless scenarios they might encounter as soon as they stepped through the Stargate. Sadly he knew from experience a large percentage of those scenarios wouldn't be good.

A.J.'s elbow jabbing into his ribs brought Jack out of his reverie in time to rise with everyone else in the courtroom as the judge dismissed the members of the court to deliberate. As soon as they had filed out of the room, Pierce brought his gavel down hard. "Court is dismissed," he announced. 

"Now what happens?" Jack demanded. 

"Now, we wait," A.J. told his friend. He led them to one of the many private consultation rooms in the building where they waited over the next several hours as the members of the court deliberated. The conversation was often stilted with Mark's presence. Sam and her father asked him about his job, and when that subject quickly lost interest they moved on to talking about how Mark's kids were doing in school. That subject too was quickly abandoned as both Sam and Jack became agitated thinking of their own missing twins. Commander Rabb and Lt. Colonel McKenzie had brought work from their other cases with them and were already working to catch up on the work that had piled up over the previous days. By the time Daniel arrived bearing enough takeout food to feed the entire group, the others had mostly drifted off into silence lost in their own thoughts. 

Only two hours after they'd finished the meal Daniel had brought the court officer knocked politely on the glass of the door. When Admiral Chegwidden bid him enter, he stuck his head in the door to announce the members of the court were ready to render their decision. A.J. acknowledged the information with a nod as he began to gather up the papers he'd been working on. They left Mark standing in the hall as they returned to the courtroom. A few minutes later those inside the courtroom stood as Judge Pierce and the members of the court filed in.

"If the defendants and their attorneys will remain standing," Pierce commanded. "The court will publish its findings."

The officer at the end of the row stood. He looked at Pierce as he said, "On the charges and specifications of fraternization, we find the defendants, Colonel Jonathan O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter, guilty."

"Very well," the judge acknowledged. "I'm ready to pass sentence. Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter, having been found guilty I hereby sentence each of you to fifteen days confinement. Time served. Additionally I order a forfeiture of pay for a like number of days. I am also ordering that all records of this trial be sealed and classified 'Eyes Only President.'"

As the judge brought the gavel down Colonel Rivers protested, "Time served!"

Pierce looked down his nose at Rivers over the wire rims of his glasses. "Fifteen days confined to the stockade hardly compares with the fifteen months of slavery they've already endured wouldn't you say, Colonel?"

"But..."

"Not to mention their torture at Eszia's hand," Pierce continued. "They've already more than paid the price for their fraternization, Colonel. However, if you disagree with my decision, feel free to file a protest."

"There will be no protest, sir" General Moore said before his subordinate could speak again.

"Good," Pierce replied. "Colonel O'Neill, I understand you and Major Carter have put in for immediate retirement."

"Yes, sir" Jack agreed speaking for Sam as well.

Pierce removed his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose as he said, "The Air Force hates to lose you. You're both fine officers, but I understand after what you've been through the need to make a new life for yourselves."

"Yes, sir" they confirmed in unison.

Pierce nodded. He held out a stack of paper. "General Hammond's taken care of everything for you. I just need your signatures. As of now, you are both civilians." The two now former officers stepped forward to take the papers from Pierce. "I'd like to shake your hands, if I may" the judge asked as he relinquished the paperwork to them.

Jack nodded holding out his hand to the other man. "Thank you, sir."

Pierce's expression was full of respect as he responded, "I truly think that should be the other way around, Colonel. Thank you."


	26. Chapter 26

In the past few days wedding preparations had become an easy cover for plans of a wholly different sort. A.J. and the other lawyers didn't know that however. Janet had supposedly taken Teal'c with her to get the rings though no one in the jewelry store would remember a big black man in a hat having been in the store that day. Nor would he be remembered at the bakery where Janet paid extra to have a small tiered wedding cake prepared on short notice. Someone might have noticed a quiet meeting in front of the Lincoln Memorial between a mountain of a man wearing a baseball cap and a shorter, stockier man sporting a graying beard. Cassie had taken care of acquiring a dress for Sam, but it wasn't the only thing she'd been charged to buy. Daniel hadn't been shopping for a china pattern this morning either. Despite the Herculean nature of their tasks, everything had been completed in time including the preparations for tomorrow. 

When A.J. led his guests into his home, they found it had been transformed. Through the dining room window, they saw that the gazebo in his backyard had been draped with garlands of flowers and ribbon streamers. In the dining room itself a small but beautifully decorated cake sat at the far end of the table where a buffet dinner had been arranged. Lt. Simms was just arranging the last tray of food as they arrived. "Lieutenant, what are you doing here?" Chegwidden demanded.

"I called her, sir" Mac admitted. "I thought Harriet might be of help to Major Frasier and her daughter in arranging things for the ceremony."

"I'm off-duty today, sir" Harriet explained. "I was happy to help."

"Very well," A.J. acknowledged. "Is there anything else that needs to be done, Lieutenant?"

"The bride needs to get dressed," Cassie answered as she came out from the back of the house to take Sam's hand and drag her back to the bedrooms.

"We're just waiting on Commander Turner to get here with his father," Harriet told her commanding officer.

Jacob waited a few minutes then followed them back. "Can I come in?" he asked from the doorway. He blinked back tears as he watched Janet and Cassie fuss over Sam's hair and makeup as they helped her get ready in the spare bedroom in Admiral Chegwidden's home. Cassandra Frasier had a very sophisticated sense of style for a seventeen year old. While Jacob had a limited fashion sense himself, even he realized that most off-the-rack dresses would hang on Sam as thin as she was now. The standard style wedding dress would only have accentuated the weight Sam had lost on Panersh, but Cassie hadn't found her a standard wedding dress. She now stood before the dresser mirror in a designer version of a white peasant dress. The simple design of the dress should have made it unsuitable for a wedding, but it was eclipsed by the opulent sheer fabric that draped in layers on the skirt falling to mid-calf. The off the shoulder bodice was made of a fine raw silk weave and had sleeves that billowed out with the same translucent fabric as the skirt. The sleeves flared out to end just below her elbow mimicking the flare of the skirt. Completing the ensemble was a long chain belt of burnished gold that looped around her waist. The ends hung down from where they crossed at her right hip. The loose bodice of the dress disguised the prominent ridges of her ribs. At the same time, the sheer fabric of the skirt and sleeves combined with her short hair and gaunt face gave her an almost ethereal quality like a character from J.R.R. Tolkien's imagination. "You look beautiful, baby" Jacob told her as he stood with his back to the door.

Sam turned away from the mirror to smile at her father. "Thanks, Dad" she said.

"So do you have something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue?" he asked with an unusual hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Well the dress is new," Sam said, "but the belt is antique. So that covers something old and something new." She blushed a little as she added, "Cassie got me a blue garter."

"And for something borrowed," Janet interjected as she held her hand out to Sam. Nestled in her open palm were the petite doctor's favorite earrings. "I thought you could wear these."

"Thanks, Janet" Sam told her friend as she took one of the small hoops from her friends hand and placed it in her ear. 

"That just leaves the last part," Jacob said as he handed his daughter the object he'd carried into the room.

"Last part?" Cassie asked fearing they'd overlooked something in their preparations. She had a typical teenager girl's fascination with the romance of weddings and wanted this marriage of her beloved Colonel Jack and Sam to be as perfect as possible.

Sam smiled as she took her parent's wedding album from her father's hand. She unerringly opened the book to the correct page as she said, "And a sixpence for her shoe." She turned the book so the teenager could see the album. The page on the left showed a much younger Jacob Carter standing beside his bride in his class A uniform that at that time bore captain's bars. The opposite page held the dried remains of her father's boutonniere, the garter her mother had worn, and the penny that had been concealed in her shoe. Sam carefully pried the penny off the page it had been adhered to with rubber cement. She stepped out of her shoe, then using her father's arm for balance bent down to place the penny inside. 

There was another knock on the door just before it was cracked open and Daniel stuck his head in the door. "Chaplain Turner is here," he announced.

Sam took a deep breath as she nodded to Daniel. "We're ready," she told him. 

Janet joined him at the door. She smiled as she tucked her hand into the crook of the arm he presented to her. Cassie gathered her own bouquet and Sam's from where they rested on the dresser. She handed the more elaborate to Sam as she gave the older woman a quick hug. Cassie then joined Teal'c in the hall outside the bedroom where she took the gentle warrior's proffered arm. Lieutenant Simms had stationed her husband at the end of the hall to watch for them and at his signal she began urging people into the back yard. There had been no time to arrange for seating so the guests gathered around the gazebo in small groups to stand and watch. 

As thanks for their help over the days of the trial, Sam and Jack had invited the JAG personnel to attend this celebration. Their willingness to pick up the slack for Chegwidden, Rabb, and McKenzie had allowed the three attorneys to focus solely on the trial. Sam and Jack had no doubt that that focus had been a large part of the outcome. No one could quite bring themselves to call it a success, but it was as near to being so as they could have hoped. Within that sea of uniforms around the gazebo were friends of the bride and groom. Some were from Sam's time at the Pentagon. Others were old friends of Jacob Carter who had known Samantha from the time she was a baby. Still others had come out of the woodwork of the black ops community. Even in the crowd of uniformed men and women, those men stood out just in the way they carried themselves. Their presence helped make up for the absence of their family of friends and colleagues at the SGC. 

Lieutenant Roberts nodded from the end of the hall once everyone was outside then turned to follow them leaving the bride and her attendants to begin the procession to the gazebo and Samantha's waiting groom. As Sam and her father followed the others towards the gazebo the sun was just beginning to set burnishing the skyline in shades of red, orange, and yellow so that it almost seemed like it had been set afire. Against that glow Jack stood before Chaplain Turner watching his bride walk towards him. When they reached the gazebo, Jacob gave his daughter's cheek a kiss then placed her hand in Jack's before joining his son at the front of the gathered crowd. 

"We're gathered here this evening to witness the joining of Jonathon and Samantha," Chaplain Turner began. "Yesterday, when I met them for the first time, we talked for several hours about their reasons for marrying. As we spoke I very quickly realized that the vows they make today are merely affirmation of unspoken promises they have already made to one another. Promises that began between soldiers. The promise to guard each other's back and leave no one behind. Promises that continued between officers. You lead, and I will follow. These promises evolved into the promises of friendship. The pledges of friendship became the bonds of family. A family that extended to the other two members of their team just as their friendship had, but in time they realized they stood at the edge of a line neither would cross. Other promises kept them from it. The oaths they made as officers in the Air Force to serve God and country."

Chaplain Turner paused to take a breath before continuing, "Just as their earlier promises had never been spoken so to was the acknowledgement of that line. With it came another unspoken promise though. A promise more simple and yet more profound even that the others they had already made. Someday. Someday the line wouldn't be there. Someday they would make those final promises." The elderly man smiled at Sam and Jack as he concluded, "Someday has finally come." With that he opened the bible he held in his right hand and began the ceremony.


	27. Chapter 27

"Some wedding night," Jack groused from where he sat on the edge of the more than slightly rumpled bed tying the laces of his boots. The hotel furnished alarm clock on the nightstand beside him read 6:00.

This night at the Watergate hotel had been a gift from General Hammond and their former colleagues at the SGC. Last night as they'd prepared to leave the backyard reception, Daniel and Janet had appeared at their side just as Sam finished thanking their guests. Their two friends had ushered them to the front of the house where a limousine waited to whisk them away. Neither Sam or Jack had known where they were going until the limo had slowed to a halt in front of the hotel. The driver had retrieved their bags from the trunk. The driver had handed the bags off to a waiting bellboy who had brought them straight to the honeymoon suite explaining that they were already checked in. 

Following the military training that was by now so ingrained as to almost be instinct, they had split up upon entering the room checking for danger. Returning from the bathroom, Sam had nodded the all clear to Jack who thanked the bellboy with a generous tip. The two of them had converged on the sterling silver bucket containing a bottle of fine champagne. The card tucked in the bucket read simply 'From SGC.' The ice in the bucket had long since melted. The bottle of champagne still held a good amount of alcohol because neither Sam nor Jack wanted to tackle this morning's mission with a hangover. 

Jack sighed as he watched Sam tuck in her shirt as she wandered over to the bed from the bathroom for a lingering kiss. 

"Don't complain," she ordered him. "We **_got_** a wedding night after all. Considering everything, we've gotta consider that alone a small miracle." They'd managed to leave the buffet reception early last night so the suite hadn't totally gone to waste, but he wished they had more time to themselves before facing reality once more. 

As Jack watched, Sam walked over and sat on the couch then braced her foot against the coffee table to lace her own boots. Jack felt the butterflies that he normally got before a mission return, and they'd brought friends. "Ready?" he asked as Sam straightened. She nodded as she got to her feet. Jack bridged the distance between them as from his pocket he fished the milky white stone ovoid that Daniel had given him before they'd left the reception. "We're ready to go, Thor," Jack said seconds before he felt the now familiar tingling sensation of the Asgard transporter.

"Do we have everything?" Sam demanded as soon as they'd materialized on the bridge of Thor's ship.

"Yeah," Harry assured her as he gestured to a square tarp laid out on the deck. Arranged on the tarp were a wide variety of alien and Earth weapons. Sam and Jack carefully scanned the selection. Jack leaned down grabbing two SIG Sauer handguns. Without a word he handed one to Sam who clipped the holster to her belt before drawing the weapon to examine it. They each accepted the spare ammunition Harry handed each of them.

"You want a knife?" Jack asked as he knelt to conceal one in his own boot. With her nod of agreement, Jack slipped a second knife into her boot. As he rose back to a standing position, Teal'c handed each of them a zat. "It's not too late to back out," he told them. "Sam and I can do this alone."

"You probably could," Daniel agreed, "but you're not going to."

"Janet, you and Cassie..." Sam tried to suggest.

"No," Janet denied before she could even finish the sentence. "You gave me my daughter, Sam. I'm just going to return the favor."

"Cassie's already been uprooted once in her life," Jack argued.

"I'm an adult now," Cassie told him with more than a little heat in her voice, "or close enough anyway. I can make my own decisions."

"Of that there is little doubt," Teal'c agreed as a shadow of a smile played across his solemn face.

"Mom and I are in," Cassie continued ignoring the choked sounds from several throats that sounded coincidentally like laughter.

"You're staying on this ship," Janet ordered.

"But..." the teenager protested.

"No buts," Daniel told her. "We've already had this discussion. You stay here."

Cassie glared at him with typical teenage belligerence but subsided into unwilling acceptance. Sam wasn't the only one to raise an eyebrow at the teenager's quick acquiescence to Daniel's edict just a breath after protesting the same from her mother. The look she gave Daniel made it clear she'd seen and understood more than the others had though. Daniel grinned in reply. 

"What's that about?" Jack asked Teal'c.

"I know not, O'Neill" his friend admitted. Beside him Bra'tac raised a curious eyebrow along with his former student.

"Cassie, I could use your help with some stuff," Jacob suggested to the teenager.

"I thought you said we were ready!?" Sam yelled to her father.

"We are!" he protested. "This is something different. Something I was working on before you two decided to get married. I got behind schedule." He took Cassie by the arm and pulled her to one side. Standing in the corner the two shared a hushed conversation with Thor as Jacob handed something to the young woman. A minute later Cassandra followed Thor over to the control console in the center of the room. She stood a few feet away as he worked the controls. A moment later the young woman dissolved before their eyes. 

"Jacob!" Janet growled at the older man. "Where..." 

"It's alright," Daniel soothed the petite doctor. "I was helping Jacob with his project earlier. She's doing something every teenage girl loves to do. Shop. Nothing dangerous." 

"She's doing something that needs to be done," Jacob added. "It'll keep her busy and safe while we do this."

Jack nodded. "Okay," he said ushering Sam from the command center. "Let's go through it one more time." He led their small group to one of the storage rooms in the ship's hold. Within the room, Thor, Bra'tac, and Maybourne had created a holographic recreation of the Presidential Lodge at Camp David. Over the next hour they ran through the plans for taking control of the lodge as well as their escape. 

"Alright that's it," Harry announced. "It's time."

Jack nodded as he led the group from the hold back to the command center. Thor moved to stand behind the control console as the rest of the group stood in a small clutch in the center of the room. First one then another and then still more of the goa'uld concussion grenades supplied by Master Bra'tac disappeared as the Asgard commander manipulated a series of controls. Jack knew the grenades were reappearing around the Presidential Lodge in concentric circles. When the final concussion grenades appeared in the lodge itself there was no one to come to the aid of those inside. Those onboard Thor's ship had only to wait a few seconds before they too disappeared. A breath later as they re-integrated inside the Presidential Lodge, they were already moving. Bra'tac and Teal'c remained in the center of the room working in tandem to deploy the goa'uld shield the jaffa rebels had acquired. Each of the others went to their predetermined location and placed the small 'anchors' for the shield device along the edges of the wall. 

"Done!" Janet reported from where she knelt near the door. As she stood she pulled a number of plastic zip ties from her pocket. These had been bought at a home improvement store and weren't the same as those used by police as handcuffs during riots, but they would do. She quickly went to the nearest unconscious Secret Service agent and rolled the man onto his stomach. She removed his weapons first then secured his hands behind his back and his feet together before rolling him back onto his side. Around her the others were doing the same. Now all they had to do was wait for their hostages to wake.


	28. Chapter 28

Jack Ryan opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by darkness. At first his pounding head refused to supply him with the reason for this, but when he tried to lift his hand to rub the ache from his forehead, he found he couldn't lift his arm. The thin band of pressure at his wrists told him that his hands were secured to the arms of the chair in which he'd been sitting. He blinked rapidly feeling the sunlight on his face from the large picture window. _'I can't have been out very long then,'_ he decided a moment before it finally connected inside him that he was blind.

As if reading his thoughts a feminine voice from the darkness to his right said, "Your eyesight will return in a few minutes, Mr. President."

It felt clichéd, but Ryan found himself asking, "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Mr. President, are you alright, sir?" Andrea Price asked. Her voice came from below and somewhere to the left. Jack remembered she'd been standing a few feet behind him observing the meeting.

"Dr. Frasier?" someone said from the couch on his right. "Janet?" For a moment the President couldn't place the voice, then he recognized it as that of Admiral A.J. Chegwidden. The admiral had been brought to the meeting by the newly confirmed Secretary of Defense, Tony Brentano, in order to give his legal opinion about John Clark's 'Rainbow' project. 

"I'm fine, Andrea" Jack assured his principal agent. "Let's all keep our heads here. That's an order."

"Yes, Mr. President," Agent Price agreed though her protectee could detect a note of rebellion in her voice. He knew from experience that if she felt she had to Andrea was more than capable of disobeying that order. He just hoped she didn't feel that need.

"We have no interest in hurting anyone," the same female assured him.

"That's a lie, Mr. President!" Senator Kinsey's voice refuted from the general direction of the couch to Ryan's left where he'd been sitting before all this had started.

"You're right," a new voice agreed. "I _**really**_ wanna hurt _**you**_, Kinsey. The others haven't made up their minds yet. So until we tell you to speak, shut up!" The hate and anger in the man's voice struck a chord of recognition within the President. Did he know this man? He didn't think so, but there was something...something he couldn't name.

"Are you going to answer the President's questions?" John Clark asked calmly. He recognized something in the man's voice as well, but unlike the President, John Clark knew what it was he recognized. It was the emotion in the man's voice. It was the same sort of burning rage that had lead to the 'death' of John Kelly and the creation of John Clark. _'This man is fully capable of killing,'_ John thought remembering a time in his life long ago, _'but he won't do it without thought...without provocation.'_

From the sound of John's voice, Jack Ryan was fairly confident his friend and former bodyguard still sat on the couch to his right. John sounded unhurt to Ryan, but he couldn't be sure. The President blinked rapidly trying in vain to clear the black curtain from his eyes.

Congresswoman Latham had her own question. "You know these people, A.J.?"

"Jack, you don't have to do this," Chegwidden said obliquely answering the congresswoman's question.

"There's not enough time to do anything else," said the man Chegwidden had called Jack. 

"We want to talk to the Senator, but he's been avoiding us," a second female voice said. There was an echo of the man's emotions in her voice.

"Really, Dr. O'Neill, there's nothing I can tell you," Kinsey plead. Underneath Kinsey's familiar smugly patronizing tone there was a hint of genuine fear in his voice. "I don't know anything."

"You're amazingly well informed for someone who doesn't know anything, Senator," the woman said. "Yesterday you would have properly called me Major Carter."

There was almost an electric charge in the room during the long pregnant pause after her statement as the Senator realized his mistake. During that time, Jack found that his sight was returning. He blinked rapidly trying to bring the world into focus, and suddenly it was. A quick survey of the room told him that all his people were relatively unharmed. His protective detail occupied space on the floor obviously tied up and left where they'd fallen. In the conversational grouping of couches and chairs that dominated the center of the large room, Tony Brentano and John Clark occupied the same couch on which A.J. Chegwidden sat. Congresswoman Latham sat beside her esteemed colleague the Senator, and on her other side sat Jack's Chief of Staff, Arnie Van Damm. Directly across from him Mary Pat and Ed Foley sat in a pair of chairs. Standing side by side in front of the couch where Kinsey sat were a couple who looked like refugees from Dante's Inferno. It wasn't just their physical appearance that gave that impression. The blazing anger in their eyes was unmistakably that of the voices he'd heard. Dr. O'Neill had turned away from the Senator into her husband's embrace. '_Dr. and Mr. Jack O'Neill, I presume,'_ Jack Ryan told himself. _'Kinsey, you are a dead man if they have their way. O'Neill and Carter. I've heard those names linked before.'_

"Well, of course, I was informed about your escape from Panersh. I asked to be kept apprised of your recovery. I was informed yesterday of the verdict at your court-martial," Kinsey said backpedaling to cover the mistake he'd made in addressing Dr. O'Neill. "I know what you're looking for, O'Neill, but I don't know anything," Kinsey swore to the man standing in front of him. "I can't help you!"

Dr. O'Neill turned back to the Senator then fixing him with a laser sharp glare. "For the past ten years, beginning with the Stargate, I've reverse engineered alien technology for the U.S. Air Force. On more than a few occasions, I've rewritten the laws of physics and developed a few new ones along the way. Do you really think breaking into the locked files on your personal computer was much of a challenge in comparison?" she asked him.

Rocking back on the balls of his feet, her husband smirked at Kinsey from her side. "Took her less than an hour," he informed the room at large with obvious pride.

_'Stargate,'_ Ryan thought as the identities of the people around him clicked into place When he'd agreed to become Roger Durling's National Security Advisor, he'd been given a briefing on the Stargate project. Looking around the room once more, Ryan recognized the younger man wearing glasses as the man who'd given him that briefing. _'Dr. Jackson,'_ the President reminded himself of the name. His gaze swung to the two men sporting gold tattoos on their foreheads standing at opposite points along the wall. _'They're jaffa. Teal'c and Bra'tac,'_ he guessed remembering the information he'd been given about Earth's allies before turning his head to look at the wiry older man stationed along one of the other two walls. _'He's gotta be General Carter, her father,'_ Ryan thought remembering what he'd been told of the tok'ra. He couldn't place names on his other two captors but suspected they would also have ties to the O'Neill's and the SGC.

"You're going to help us get Subject A and Subject B back," she commanded leaving an unspoken threat hanging in the air.

Like any trapped rat, Kinsey launched his own verbal attack back at her. "Or you'll do what, Samantha?"

She bent down unsheathing the knife concealed in her boot. Holding it close to the Senator's face she asked, "How'd you like an up close and personal demonstration of what Eszia did to Jack?"

"You wouldn't dare!" Kinsey growled at her. 

"I've been a soldier my entire adult life, Senator. Do you think I haven't killed before?" she questioned him.

"You're a scientist...an officer," he rejoined. "You don't have the stomach to torture me."

"I was a scientist. I was an officer. Now I'm a wife and mother," she snarled back. "Besides, after fifteen months as a goa'uld prisoner the veneer of civilization has definitely worn thin."


	29. Chapter 29

The pieces of the puzzle he'd been assembling in his mind's eye shifted again with Samantha O'Neill's snarled reply. The picture still wasn't complete, but he now had a pretty good idea of what it would look like. Ryan knew now what had resonated so deeply with him. His instincts were telling him it was their anger and hatred towards the good Senator. He'd felt the same way more than once. Most recently he'd felt it waiting in the Oval Office for word from the agents outside the Giant Steps Day Care where his daughter was being held hostage. He'd felt it years ago on a boat in the harbor off Baltimore as he'd held a gun to Sean Miller. "What have you done, Kinsey?" President Ryan asked in horror. He saw his own expression of horror mirrored back at him on many of the faces around him. The agents on his detail were trained to note the most subtle aspects of human behavior. They had to be to differentiate the harmless wackos drawn to the power of the White House from the ones who were really dangerous. Clark and the Foleys had the same gift or they wouldn't have survived so many years in the field. These jobs also made them more than familiar with the darker side of human nature. Kinsey remained silent prompting Ryan to demand, "Answer me, damn it!"

"I did what needed to be done for the safety of this world," Kinsey sneered. "I did what the Air Force refused to do."

"You did it for yourself," the petite redhead, Janet, corrected. "For power and glory." 

"Not to mention revenge," Dr. Jackson added.

"Accusations later," Jack O'Neill ordered. "What's it going to be Senator?"

When Kinsey remained stubbornly silent, Samantha leaned down closer resting the knife against the Senator's cheek. "There's an old saying I want you to think very carefully about, Senator" she told the older man. "It's said there's nothing in nature more dangerous than a mother defending her young."

"Oh my God," Bobbi Latham whispered as some of the pieces fell into place for her as well.

"You'll never get away with this," Kinsey growled. "I'll make sure you get the death penalty for this."

"You first, Senator. You ordered the murder of Air Force personnel on Federal property in order to acquire your test subjects," the bearded man who hadn't spoken before responded. He stepped forward dropping a large file folder and several computer disks onto the low coffee table in front of them.

"Maybourne, you son of a bitch" the Senator swore at the man. He started to lunge towards the bearded man, but sank back as Dr. O'Neill's knife pierced the skin of his neck.

"There are some lines even I won't cross," Maybourne replied. "Let me tell you, Senator, prison's not so bad. It'll take the court years to execute you, and when they do it'll be a needle in the arm. Quick. Painless. You don't do what Sam and Jack want, you'll die a hell of a lot sooner, and she definitely won't make it painless."

"I suggest you do as they want, Senator" Jack Ryan said. _ 'O'Neill said there wasn't time to do anything else,'_ Ryan thought, _ 'and this man, Maybourne, is talking about test subjects.'_ Hoping he was right about the reasons behind what these people were doing, Ryan threatened, "Otherwise I'll write them Presidential pardons and let them do whatever they need to do to get what they want."

"Mr. President, you can't do that!" Arnie protested.

The President's face remained resolute in spite of his chief of staff's objection.

Kinsey had paled noticeably when the knife first touched his throat. What little color remained drained from his face as his bluster finally left him. He swallowed nervously before grudgingly asking, "What do you want me to do?"

After she returned the knife to her boot, Samantha produced a cell phone from her pocket. "We're going to call your friend, Alexandro," she announced. "You're going to tell him about your meeting here with the President. You see the President is fascinated by what you've told him about Dr. Rivera's experiment. Isn't that right, Mr. President?"

"Oh, yeah" President Ryan agreed understanding at once where she was going with this. "In fact, I'm so fascinated I want a personal briefing from him here at Camp David."

"That's right," Samantha confirmed as she flashed a strained but genuine smile at him. "You should have him bring his test subjects here immediately."

"He's going to want to bring all his research," Jack O'Neill added. "The President has arranged for his project to be moved to a more secure location after the briefing."

"Now wait a second," Ryan objected reading the intent in O'Neill's eyes. "I won't sanction murder!"

"As long as his test subjects are still breathing when he gets here, he'll be breathing when we leave," O'Neill promised, "but the research comes with us. No one's going to profit from what they've done."

"Agreed," Ryan said instantly. "Make the call, Kinsey."

The room was silent as the Senator dictated the phone number to Samantha O'Neill. Everyone listened as he spoke at length to the person on the other end. As soon as Kinsey said good bye, the phone was taken away from his ear and returned to Samantha O'Neill's pocket. She slumped a little against her husband.

"Why don't you sit down a minute, Sam?" O'Neill suggested to her. When she nodded her acquiescence, he gently ushered her to the empty chair beside President Ryan. From the way she sank into it, Ryan suspected her energy was at a low ebb. "Now we just have to wait," Jack O'Neill told his wife gently rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

"When did you escape the goa'uld?" Jack Ryan asked them. There was surprise on the two faces that turned to stare at him pushing him to explain, "I was given a briefing on the Stargate project when I became Roger Durling's NSA. By Doctor Jackson in fact. Your names figured prominently in it. I asked for a second briefing from the two of you specifically on the military and scientific implications of the Stargate."

"And I told you that wouldn't be possible," Jackson interjected, "because they'd been captured by the goa'uld."

Ryan nodded. With a jerk of his head he indicated Senator Kinsey. "Kinsey said he'd been informed of your escape," Jack continued. "When was that?"

"Four weeks ago tomorrow," Sam O'Neill replied.

Before the President could ask his next question the windows were shattered as the Secret Service agents outside the compound made their first attempt to retake the Presidential Lodge. Ryan watched as the agents attempting to jump in through the windows seemed to bounce back against an invisible barrier. The light around them changed momentarily. 

"A force field?" Tony Brentano gaped. There was no mistaking the undisguised avarice in the engineer's look.

"It's on loan," the older man standing near the shattered window said. When he continued his voice changed to a more resonant sound, _**"And we'll want it back."**_


	30. Chapter 30

"General Jacob Carter and Selmak of the Tok'ra, I presume?" the President asked.

Jacob dipped his head in acknowledgement. "Sorry for barging into your meeting like this, Mr. President" he said. "We'll be out of your hair as quickly as possible."

Ryan nodded just as his attention was drawn back to Jack O'Neill. The man had bent down and removed a knife from his boot identical to the one his wife wore. He could sense Agent Price tensing as O'Neill turned towards him, but the former Air Force officer merely cut away the zip tie securing the President's feet. He rose to do the same to each of the ties holding his arms to the chair. "It's time for you to go, Mr. President," he announced.

"You're letting me go? Why?" he questioned. 

"Because America's had enough uncertainty about her leadership the last year," O'Neill explained. "We let you go now, you can explain this away to the public as a surprise drill for your protective detail."

"You'll also do us more good out there than in here," his wife added.

Jack Ryan nodded. "The women go with me," the President bargained.

"Agreed," O'Neill said.

"I know what I suspect about why you've done this, but I need to hear you say it," the President said. "The test subjects Mr. Maybourne spoke of?"

"Our children," Samantha O'Neill confirmed.

Ryan closed his eyes as if by closing them he could shut out what he'd just heard. Jack Ryan was never one to close his eyes and wish away a problem though. He bent forward picking the file and disks up off the table. He straightened, conscious of the strange alien weapons trained on him by the jaffa Teal'c and Dr. Jackson. "I'll be sending the FBI to your house and offices, Senator" he told the older man, "and they'll be waiting for you when you leave here." 

Kinsey said nothing, but there was a resigned quality to his expression that the President had never seen before. 

"I want Admiral Chegwidden as well. I want answers, and he has them." O'Neill nodded his agreement as he cut Bobbi Latham free. Ryan took Congresswoman Latham by the arm to help her rise. Ryan walked over to where Samantha O'Neill was using the knife from her boot to cut the zip ties from Andrea Price's feet. He helped his lead agent stand. "Do nothing, Andrea" he ordered in a nearly inaudible whisper. He knew Andrea and Mary Pat were both cowboy enough to try something now that they were no longer restrained, but he had slightly more faith in Mary Pat's restraint.

Jack kept a firm hand on Andrea's arm as he lead the way over to the door where General Carter waited. The former general nodded to him then held a hand up to the door. On his hand, the general wore a strange piece of gold jewelry almost like a gauntlet. The jewel in the palm of the device began to glow and at each of the four corners of the door a small golden device reflected that glow. Ryan surmised the thing on Carter's hand must hide some sort of technology. "You can open the door now," Carter told him. 

"Coming out," Ryan shouted as he reached for the door handle. "We're coming out," he repeated.

"Keep your hands where we can see them," a voice outside shouted back.

Before he could open the door, General Carter's hand reached out and snagged his arm. Ryan turned his attention to the older man and waited. "I want my grandbabies back, Mr. President" Carter said in a voice rough with emotion. "They won't survive it if we don't. It'll break them." 

President Ryan didn't trust himself to speak after hearing the anguish in the older man's voice. He turned to look at the man's daughter. O'Neill and his wife were once again wrapped in a loose embrace. They each had one arm wrapped around the other's waist. Their free arms hung at their sides free to draw their weapons should the need arise. Ryan squeezed General Carter's shoulder reassuringly then opened the door leading the other freed hostages from the Presidential Lodge. Even before Admiral Chegwidden, the last to leave, cleared the door the President was grabbed by two Secret Service agents and hurried away from the building. Andrea Price rushed after them pushing the President forward and away from danger.

As soon as the President saw where they were pushing him he dug in his heels. "No," he denied eyeing the waiting helicopter with disdain. "I'm staying here."

"Mr. President," Andrea protested.

"Andrea, if they'd wanted to kill me, I'd be dead" he pointed out knowing exactly what she was about to say.

"That doesn't mean they can't change their mind," she argued in return.

"And if they did, could you stop them?" he asked knowing the answer was no. The alien technology the O'Neill's had available to them made it nearly impossible to stop them should they indeed change their mind. "I'm going to see this through," Ryan said with finality. Over the past few months, the President and his lead agent had often argued over her need to protect the leader of the free world versus his need to_** be **_that leader. It had developed into a kind of dance between them. A dance in which the President had just stepped on her foot. Hard. "I need to do this," Jack told her trying to lessen the sting of his refusal. "Who's been in command?" 

"Me, sir" a middle aged man in the requisite dark suit of an agent on the Presidential detail. The man stepped forward and gave President Ryan a quick run down of what had happened outside the Presidential Lodge in the past few minutes. Ryan nodded as he listened to the agent then rapidly began issuing orders. "Thank you, Mr. President," the agent said before he turned to carry out Ryan's wishes. 

As soon as Ryan was sure his orders were being carried out he called, "Chegwidden!"

"Here, sir" the admiral immediately acknowledged jumping to his commander in chief's side as a lifetime in military service had trained him to do.

"Fill in the blanks," Ryan ordered. 

The admiral nodded his understanding of what the President meant.

"I'd like to hear this as well, Mr. President" Congresswoman Latham informed him moving to stand between the two men. It was well known around the Capitol that Congresswoman Latham considered having Senator Kinsey involved with military oversight, especially with the NID, was akin to setting the fox to guarding the henhouse. Apparently she was right. It also wasn't hard to guess that Bobbi Latham had been waiting quite some time for her chance to say "I told you so." Unfortunately, she probably wouldn't get to say it publicly. Senator Kinsey was going to pay for his crimes, but just how that was going to happen without Ryan instigating yet another constitutional crisis was still to be decided.


	31. Chapter 31

"A single vehicle's been let through the gate," one of the remaining Secret Service agents relayed to his captors as he'd been ordered to do by the voice of Agent Price on his radio earpiece. 

O'Neill and his wife sprang towards the shattered window. They hugged the wall near the window, O'Neill behind his wife, minimizing their silhouettes to those outside. From this vantage point, they could just make out the shape of the approaching SUV. As it came to a halt, Sam took a deep shuddering breath then another. O'Neill placed his hands on her upper arms rubbing gently. It was obvious that he intended the gesture to have a calming affect on his wife, but the others in the room couldn't help but notice it had a similar affect on O'Neill himself. 

"I'm going out there," she suddenly announced.

"Sam," Jack chided. 

"Someone's got to go out and get them," she retorted. "I'm going."

"They can be brought to us," Daniel argued. 

"No," she declared with absolute finality in her voice as she moved away from her husband. Clark watched as she moved with quiet efficiency towards him. "Mr. Clark, we're going for a walk," she told him as she knelt and cut through the bindings around his ankles. 

"Sam," O'Neill warned quietly.

"I...I think I feel something, Jack" she confided. "I need to get closer to be sure though."

"Something?" her father questioned. "Something as in what?"

"As in a symbiote," she admitted.

"I don't sense anything," Jacob announced as he threw a questioning look to the two jaffa.

"I, too, sense nothing," Teal'c agreed while his mercurial mentor, Bray'tac, merely nodded his own agreement.

"Please don't take offense, Selmak," Sam asked, "but it's like going to the home of somebody who owns a dog. Visitors to the house notice the smell of the dog, but the owner is used to it and doesn't." She could have explained in more detail why she might sense a symbiote and they would not. It had started as a game on Panersh to occupy her mind while she labored in the fields. As she weeded the fields of crops, Sam had tried to sense the location of the jaffa around her without looking. Within a few weeks she realized she was getting better at it the more she practiced. She had also realized that this ability could be the deciding factor between failure and success when the time came for she and O'Neill to make their escape. What had started as a game quickly became a training regime that rivaled any other she'd ever done.

Jacob's head slipped down momentarily. _**"I cannot say I like the comparison,"**_ Selmak said, _**"but the analogy is sound." **_ His head dipped slightly as Jacob resumed control. "That still doesn't mean you should go out there," he argued.

"What are the chances that it's a Tok'ra?" Sam demanded of her father. "If a Goa'uld has my children, I damn well am going to find out!"

"Then I'll go with you," Jack suggested.

"No," Sam refused as she tugged Clark to his feet. "If I'm wrong, Mr. Clark and I are just going to go for a little walk, and when we get back, we'll have the twins with us. If I'm right, I want you in here...out of sight, but ready to back me up."

Jacob threw up his hands recognizing in her expression that he hadn't a chance of winning the argument. The same rueful resignation played across Jack's face then his eyes brightened with an idea. "What about Thor?" he suggested. 

"No," Daniel said. "We can't risk it, Jack. The System Lords are just looking for a chance to break the Protected Planets Treaty." 

"He's right," Sam whispered to her husband taking his hand in hers. 

Jack sighed as he took Sam's arm turning her to face him. "Be careful," he admonished before kissing her lightly on the forehead. His expression hardened as he turned to Clark. He didn't say anything to the other man, but his eyes conveyed a message all the same. 

Clark nodded his acceptance of the unvoiced edict. He turned and lead the way out of the building as a human shield in front of his captor. "What's a Goa'uld?" he asked with all his instincts screaming at him to get as much information as he could. 

"It would take too long to explain everything, and you probably wouldn't believe me anyway," she told him. 

"Give me the Cliff Notes version," John demanded. "I don't like going into things blind." 

"You noticed how the President addressed my father?" she asked. 

"General Carter and Selmak of the Tok'ra," John murmured. 

"Four years ago my father was dying of cancer," Sam told him as she followed him towards where the President and several others stood waiting for the occupants of the SUV. "Selmak is an alien being that lives inside him. Selmak cured his cancer, and in exchange they share my father's body." 

"And Selmak is a Goa'uld?" John guessed. He was willing to take the 'alien' part on faith considering the level of technology they'd shown already and the strange sound of General Carter's voice when he'd spoken to Tony Brentano.

"A Tok'ra," Sam corrected. "Same species. Different faction. The Tok'ra are symbiotes. They share the body with the host. The Goa'uld are parasites. They subhume the host totally. The Tok'ra have been in rebellion against the Goa'uld for several thousand years. The Goa'uld have enslaved humanity across the galaxy including here on Earth until a rebellion in ancient Egypt forced them to withdraw from the planet." 

"How will I be able to tell it's a Goa'uld?" Clark demanded. 

"You won't," she told him. "I was taken as a host a few years ago. It died inside me a few days later, but since then I've been able to sense when a Goa'uld or Tok'ra are nearby." Even though Clark couldn't see her face, he could feel the underlying horror in her voice. 

Clark was still mulling over her explanation when she grabbed the back of his shirt tugging him to a halt. "What?" he asked. 

"It's a Goa'uld," she whispered. 

He looked at the two men who had exited the vehicle. They were perhaps fifty yards away. The driver was dressed as an Air Force colonel. The passenger was an older man in his sixties or early seventies. "Which one?" Clark asked. 

"The older man," Sam told him. He sensed her kneel down behind him then felt the tug of the knife on the ties that bound his hands at his back. "Dr. Alexandro Rivera. We have another problem though. The other man is Colonel Nick Rivers. He's spent the last three weeks prosecuting Jack and I for fraternization. He's going to recognize me." 

"Is it just me or is there a family resemblance?" Clark suggested sotto voiced as he rubbed the raw skin at his wrists. 


	32. Chapter 32

"I didn't see it in the photos," Sam admitted. "Standing together like that it's pretty obvious though isn't it? We did background checks on both of them, but we didn't have time to check for a cover. We just weren't looking for it. Rivera has a son, Dominic, though." 

"We need to warn the Detail," Clark told her.

Sam saw a Marine converging on them from the corner of her eye. "Turn around," she commanded. Clark did so with more than a small amount of trepidation. That amount skyrocketed though when he saw the handgun in his captor's hand. It turned to amazement when she reversed the weapon handing it to him butt first. "You may need this," she told him.

He didn't have a chance to take the handgun though as the young Marine guard jogged towards them commanding in a low voice, "Hands where I can see them!"

Sam obeyed spreading her arms out at her sides and letting the weapon hang from her index finger.

Clark ignored the order though. Pointing at the radio the young man wore he demanded, "Get on the radio and tell Price to get the President away from those men."

"They're extremely dangerous," Sam added.

"Don't move!" the young soldier warned again.

"Did you not hear me, corporal?" Clark asked at his most deadly.

"Too late," Sam told him watching helplessly knowing they were too far away to stop the events set in motion as Admiral Chegwidden joined the President. As soon as Colonel Rivers saw who it was approaching him, he pulled a zat obviously realizing the real reason Dr. Rivera had been summoned to Camp David. He fired the zat'nickatel at the nearest agents then darted forward grabbing Admiral Chegwidden as a human shield and pointing his weapon at the President before anyone else could react. When the young corporal tried to rush towards the fight, Sam grabbed his arm. "What do you think you can do?" she demanded when he tried to pull his arm away. "Bullets are bouncing off them. Rushing in isn't going to help."

"Then what will?!" the corporal cried.

Clark answered for her. "This is a situation we're going to have to think our way out of," he told the young soldier then turned to the woman who had been his captor only minutes ago. "I don't suppose you have any ideas, ma'am?" John asked.

Sam turned her head back to the drive where Colonel Rivers now stood with the admiral in front of him as a shield. Rivera stood close. Even at this distance she could see the glowing jewel in the center of his palm. She noted that the shooting had stopped. Another sound had taken its place though. Sam could hear her children crying from inside the SUV. She took a moment to closer her eyes and give thanks they were alive before turning her attention back to Clark and the young soldier. "You two go get my husband and my father," she ordered. "Tell them everything, Mr. Clark. That Rivera's a Goa'uld and the resemblance we noted."

"What about you? What are you going to do?" he demanded.

"Stall for time," Sam answered calmly enough, but her swallow of fear following the statement was clearly visible to both men.

"Why don't you go for your husband, and I'll stall," Clark suggested gently remembering the President's question about their escape from the Goa'uld. She had recently escaped from just such a creature as the one now holding the President. He remembered watching the last POW's leave the plane years ago only months after his failed mission to rescue them. Dr. O'Neill had that same look about her. She was also desperate to save her children. All in all, there were too many unknowns about Dr. Samantha O'Neill and the others with her for him to be comfortable putting her in such a position.

She shook her head denying that possibility. "You don't know enough about the Goa'uld," she reminded Clark. "It's got to be me." As Sam re-holstered her handgun she apologized to Clark, "I think I may need it more than you." Before Clark could protest further Sam's head snapped back towards the stalemate in the clearing between the buildings. She whispered an epitaph as the President began walking towards Rivera obviously having been ordered to do so. "Get Jack!" she ordered Clark once more then sprinted towards the President. "He's a Goa'uld, Mr. President! Don't get any closer!" Sam screamed. Her forward momentum was abruptly halted when Rivera turned and gave proof to her words by hurling her into the air with the ribbon device he wore on his hand.

"Dr. O'Neill!" the President cried as he turned to go to her help.

_**"Do not,"**_ the Goa'uld within Rivera warned. _**"Come here."**_

The President hesitated giving Sam the time she needed to roll to her feet though she doubted she'd get any points for grace in the maneuver. "Stay where you are, Mr. President" she told him in direct opposition to the Goa'uld. It was too late though. Using its heightened speed, the Goa'uld reached out and grabbed the President. Ryan struggled futilely against the supernatural strength of the Goa'uld. "Don't struggle, Mr. President," Sam instructed. "It's incredibly strong. You won't be able to get away from it."

_**"The infamous Major Samantha Carter,"**_ the Goa'uld greeted her. _**"My former host regretted that he didn't listen to your warning."**_

"Your former host?" she asked stalling for time just as she'd told Clark she would.

_**"Adrian Conrad, of course,"**_ the Goa'uld informed her.

"Ahh," Sam intoned. "So the NID helped you escape just like we guessed. Who shot Jack?"

_**"Colonel Samuels,"**_ it answered. The expression on Rivera's face showed that the Goa'uld enjoyed remembering the incident. _ **"He and his NID handlers were disappointed you'd survived, Major...but it's doctor now isn't it. You retired and married O'Neill. Where is your husband?"**_

"Looking for where the NID were holding the twins," Sam answered. "Admiral Chegwidden arranged for us to make a personal plea for help to the President. So we split up. I came here while he kept looking. We thought a plea from a mother would have more impact."

Easily picking up the thread of her lie, the President added, "I ordered Kinsey to have her children brought here."

"Surrender and we'll make sure they let you live," Sam offered the Goa'uld needing to turn his attention back to her and away from the President.

_**"I think not,"**_ the Goa'uld replied backing towards the SUV a few yards away. Colonel Rivers began edging towards the vehicle as well careful to keep his own human shield in front of him. _**"I think we'll..." ** _

The gua'uld's refusal was cut off when Sam, moving with speed and efficiency, pulled her handgun from its holster and fired off four rounds in quick succession. Each double tap of bullets found their mark. Over the wails of the frightened infants inside the SUV could be heard the loud hiss of air escaping from the front tires. Sam queried, "...be going? I think not." Having cut off their escape route, Sam re-holstered her weapon. "I'd say we have a stalemate."


	33. Chapter 33

As he pulled the kid along, Clark asked, "What's your name?"

"Randy Peterson, sir" the young Marine answered.

"Corporal Peterson, get Agent Altman here," Clark ordered as they rounded the corner to the entrance to the lodge. Clark was familiar enough with the chain of command within the Ryan detail to know that with Price now a hostage Roy Altman would be senior agent on scene. His thoughts were interrupted as Jack O'Neill came around the same corner at the same time from the opposite direction. With him were his father-in-law and the large black man with the strange tattoo. 

"Mr. Clark," O'Neill greeted the other man coolly. Jack thought he'd made it fairly clear with that one look that if anything happened to Sam he was going to take it out on Clark's hide. "Where's my wife?"

"She ordered me to come get you and her father. She said to tell you Colonel Rivers is out there," Clark informed them. His suit jacket and tie came off to be abandoned on the ground before he rolled up the sleeves on his dress shirt. The black man whose name Clark didn't know merely raised an eyebrow while the reactions from O'Neill and Carter were decidedly more vocal. "There's more," John warned. "Rivera's a Goa'uld according to your wife. Standing side-by-side there's a noticeable resemblance in their appearance. Father and son maybe? They've got the President, a couple of agents, and Admiral Chegwidden as their hostages. Dr. O'Neill's stalling for time. Now...you want to give me a weapon? I feel kinda naked right about now," Clark suggested. Without pause, he turned to Peterson and ordered, "Have Mrs. Foley join us over here as well." He didn't wait to see if the corporal obeyed turning instead back towards O'Neill and his companions with his hand extended.

"Jacob, Mr. Clark needs a weapon," O'Neill commanded as amusement warred with respect in the expression on his face. His father-in-law responded by removing the holstered weapon from his belt and handing it to Clark. O'Neill wasted no more time. He too turned to Peterson. "You know the layout around here?" he demanded of the young man.

"Yes, sir."

"Take Teal'c and Jacob around to the other side of the compound. The long way," Jack demanded. "Stay hidden."

As Peterson obeyed his orders guiding Jacob and Teal'c around the side of the building, an agent dressed in dark clothes rapidly approached along with Mary Pat Foley. "There's no way in Hell you're taking charge, Clark" Roy Altman told the older man angrily. "With Price out of commission, I'm senior agent on the scene." Having gotten the First Lady to safety in one of the other lodges, she'd ordered him to find out what was going on. When the information that Price had been taken hostage along with the President had been relayed to him, Roy had realized he was now in charge. Leaving the First Lady and the Ryan kids in the care of the more junior agents on her detail, he'd immediately gone to assess the situation. Peterson's message had brought him here.

"You have any idea what you're up against?" Jack demanded. "You know how to get past that shield?"

"No," Roy admitted, "but I have a feeling you do."

"That's right," Jack said. "And my wife's out there drawing attention away from the President and your agents. So your turf war doesn't interest me. I don't care who's in charge officially. The reality is, you don't know how to fight them, and I do. That puts me in charge. Discussion's over." Having said his peace, Jack began edging his way closer to the standoff in the driveway with the others trailing behind him. He led them to where one of the Marines was ducked down at the edge of one of the other lodges. He ignored the whispered conversation between them as Roy Altman reluctantly ceded authority to the DDI Foley. "Tell me what's been going on," Jack commanded the young man. A nod from Altman confirmed the order. As soon as the Marine relayed the lie Sam had told about his presence at Camp David, Jack interrupted, "Give me your cover, son." 

As Jack pulled the hat down low on his forehead, Altman handed over his own pair of sunglasses. "Will that be enough?" he asked understanding why this man must have asked for the hat, but not how well known he was to the hostage takers.

"Probably," Jack guessed, "but I don't intend to let him see me regardless." 

"Someone want to tell me what's going on?" Mary Pat Foley demanded. 

Jack didn't turn his attention away from assessing the standoff as he quickly gave his three companions his version of 'Goa'uld 101.' He absently answered their questions while he measured distances with his eyes. Jack estimated he was fifty yards from the standoff in the driveway. Sam had managed to inch her way to within ten feet of the Goa'uld. Possible scenarios were rapidly running through O'Neill's head as the radio clipped to his belt squawked once then erupted with his father-in-law's voice, "Jack, we're in place here. We're about 30 feet from Sam and the Goa'uld behind the humvee."

After another quick scan of the area, Jack picked out the vehicle that served as their concealment. "I see you," Jack confirmed. "We're behind the building directly across from you."

"Got you," the radio informed him. "You got a plan, Jack?"

"I'm working on it," Jack told his father-in-law before turning to Altman. "I need your radio, Agent..."

"Altman," Roy supplied, but he didn't hand over the radio. Instead he spoke into his sleeve. A few seconds later, another agent joined them with a spare radio for O'Neill.

As soon as he was outfitted, Jack slowly peeked around the edge of the building once more. "Altman, how many people are on this frequency right now?" he asked.

"A couple hundred," Roy informed him.

Jack nodded then raised his wrist to his face to speak into the tiny microphone now clipped to the cuff of his shirt. "Price, this is O'Neill. If you can hear me clench your left fist," he said. A moment later as Jack watched, Agent Price clenched her left fist. "Good," Jack said. "Okay, left fist means yes. Right fist means no." As he watched her carefully, Jack questioned Price gathering information the information he needed from her. "What are the names of the other two agents out there?" he asked Altman.

"Aiken and Nieto," Altman answered. He was crouched down low next to O'Neill observing the situation with his own eyes. "Aiken is the one on the left."

Jack nodded. "Price, Aiken, and Nieto. When we make our move, grab the President and Chegwidden and run as quickly as you can away from Rivera, the old guy. I know this is going to sound like something out of the X-Files, but there's a parasite in him. It's a kind of snake. It's controlling him. When we make our move, it might try to find another host," Jack explained. "Trust me, you don't want to have one of these things inside you. That's why you need to move fast to get away from it when the time comes. Everyone else out here, that's why none of you are to get any closer than you already are. Stay back, and let us handle it. Got it?" Over the radio there were various confirmations from the agents on the detail, and Jack saw Price and the other two hostages clench their left fists briefly.

Jack crept out from the building as slowly as he could hoping to make eye contact with Sam. A minute later her eyes connected with his across the distance that separated them. Using hand signals, Jack briefly informed Sam of where they stood. A few surreptitious hand signals back from Sam acknowledged the information and told him to wait.

"Wait?" Clark questioned. "Wait for what?"

"Sam's got a plan," Jack informed the other man unsurprised that he had understood. Into his borrowed radio Jack said, "Price, I need you to key your radio so I can hear what they're saying." The senior detail agent clenched her left fist in reply. A moment later, Jack heard his wife's voice taunting the Goa'uld. Jack felt a knot begin to form in his stomach as he listened. 

"Jack, she isn't thinking of doing what I think she is?" his father-in-law asked via the radio. It took Jack only a split second to remember that Jacob's hearing was more acute than a normal human because of his blending with Selmak. He would have no trouble hearing the conversation between the Goa'uld and his daughter.

"Yeah, I think she is," O'Neill agreed as the knot in his stomach tighten further.

"You're a bad influence, Jack" the voice on the radio chided. "She never would have done something this crazy before she met you."

"Me?!" Jack sputtered. "Oh, no...I don't get the blame for this. This is a case of the apple not falling far from the tree."

"What are we going to do?" Jacob asked.

"Only thing we can do, Jacob" Jack answered. "Follow her lead."


	34. Chapter 34

After returning her weapon to its holster, Sam stood waiting calmly for the Goa'uld to react. Admiral Chegwidden and President Ryan were both staring at her as if she had lost her mind. The other three agents were slightly behind her and to her left, but Sam was fairly certain that if she could, she'd see similar expressions on their faces.

_**"Insolent human!"**_ the Goa'uld swore at her as the jewel in the center of the ribbon device on his hand began to glow once more. _** "You will pay for this. I will leave this planet, and when I return I will..."**_

"...crush us beneath your feet," Sam once again interrupted. The bored tone of her voice was designed to infuriate the Goa'uld. "Yes, I've heard that one before, and yet here we are. The System Lords have tried more than a few times to destroy this planet. They've failed. You'll fail too. And don't bother telling me to kneel before my god. I've heard that one before too. You're no god. Gods can't be killed, but Goa'uld can. Ra is dead after all. So are Apophis and his queen, Ammonet. Sokar, too. I killed Seth and Hathor myself."

The Goa'uld's eyes flashed golden for a split second warning Sam in time to brace herself. Still she dropped to her knees in the dirt when it turned the ribbon device on her. The pressure on her skull was incredible, and for a moment she found herself flashing back to the chamber on Eszia's ship. She could smell the overpowering scent of blood. Before her she could see the trail of that blood leading from the wall where Jack had been restrained to the sarcophagus that hummed with activity in the center of the room. Sam was ruthlessly pulled from the memory by the sound of a single gunshot just before the Goa'uld's shield deflected the bullet into the ground spraying up dirt. 

With the pressure on her skull gone, if not the lingering pain, Sam was able to clear her thinking. From where she knelt on the ground, she noted the Goa'uld's attention focused on the rooftops from which the shot had been fired. Colonel Rivers' attention was also focused away from her. The zat was no longer pointed at A.J. Chegwidden but at the three Secret Service agents to her left. "Do anything stupid like that again, and they're dead!" Rivers shouted. "You hear me?" The crying from the SUV also served to distract the Goa'uld and Rivers, but it disturbed her even more. Every instinct within her told Sam to get to her children. Sam could see Chegwidden coiling to strike against the distracted man. Fighting against the instinctive need to attack now and free her children, Sam caught the admiral's attention and subtly shook her head. Taking the opportunity their distraction gave her, she quickly slipped her knife from her boot and concealed it in the sleeve of her shirt. She accepted that this first attempt hadn't worked. It was time to look at plan B. Sam didn't like plan B. In fact, just thinking of it made her nauseous. So nauseous she decided to attempt to stall for more time hoping an alternative would present itself.

A.J. nodded understanding at once that the time wasn't as yet right for him to move against Rivers. As she slowly got to her feet, he could see her signaling someone in a position behind him and by extension behind the hostage takers.

"How did you get from Conrad into this host?" Sam asked hoping this Goa'uld like every other Goa'uld they'd encountered would want to brag about how clever it was. She wasn't disappointed.

_**"The good doctor was brought to examine my former host and I,"**_ it told her. _**"This host was ill. He had a seizure while preparing us for surgery. I took the opportunity to free myself. Unfortunately, Mr. Conrad died on the operating table." **_

"No one thought to give you an MRI?" Sam asked.

_**"Of course they did,"**_ the Goa'uld scoffed, _**"but my 'son' took care of that. Didn't you?"**_

Rivers glared angrily at the Goa'uld. "Get on with it," he growled. "This is just a stall tactic."

Sam turned her head slightly to glare at Rivers. "You helped them take my children knowing they were going to be turned over to a Goa'uld!" she accused him.

"Your children for my father!" Rivers snarled back.

"Is that what it promised you?" Sam asked. "That it would leave your father if you helped it? That it would cure his Parkinson's?" Her research into Rivera's background had revealed that at least. Rivera's reckless experiments had been done in the hopes of finding a cure for his Parkinson's disease. He hadn't cared about the cost to others who also suffered from the disease in his search for his own cure. 

_**"Eventually,"**_ the Goa'uld within Rivera confirmed as the old man's face twisted into a macabre smirk. 

"It's lying," Sam said. "You're NID, Rivers. Didn't you check the information the Tok'ra supplied about potential hosts? Parkinson's is one of the few diseases the symbiotes can't cure because it affects the brain."

"My father is better!" Rivers argued. "Look at him," he commanded Sam. "No tremors. He's walking without a cane..."

"The Goa'uld is walking without a cane," Sam countered. "It's bypassing your father's brain and commanding his body. As soon as it leaves your father's body the symptoms will return, and they'll be worse because..."

_**"Silence!"**_ the Goa'uld abruptly roared.

"See," Sam said. "It knows I'm telling you the truth." She turned to the Goa'uld then knowing she had run out of time. Plan B it was. "It's painful being in that body isn't it?" she asked it. "The host's brain misfiring like that. Sending shocks through you." From its silence, Sam knew her supposition was correct. "How'd you like to trade that host in for a better one?" she asked.

_**"And what host do you offer me?"**_ it asked in return.

Before Sam could answer, Agent Price said, "Me. You can have me."

_**"And why would you offer this?"**_ the Goa'uld asked.

"Because she doesn't know what the Hell she's offering," Sam answered for Price glaring the other woman into silence, "but I do. Let Admiral Chegwidden take my children and go then you can have me as your host."

_**"And why would you offer this?"**_ the Goa'uld repeated.

"To save my children," Sam told it honestly. The weight of the knife in her sleeve reminded her that this offer was just another tactic. Over the Goa'uld's shoulder her eyes met Jack's shocked gaze for a moment before sliding back. "We both know why you'll accept my offer," she added. "Knowledge to defeat the Tok'ra. Power enough to rule the System Lords. Maybe even defeat the Asgard."

_**"Then come,"**_ the Goa'uld said accepting her offer.

"A.J. and the children first," Sam demanded.

_**"Let the admiral go,"**_ the Goa'uld commanded Rivers.

Rivers motioned Price forward with the zat replacing one human shield with another before releasing his hold on A.J. The admiral stepped around the two and opened the rear passenger door of the SUV. Reaching inside he released the seat belt securing the baby seat. He gently lifted the first seat down and placed it on the ground at his feet before repeating the process with the second. As soon as the second seat had cleared the door of the SUV he reached down and picked up the other with his free hand. He cautiously scooted around the Goa'uld and Colonel Rivers walking towards Sam at a brisk pace. When he reached her he stopped and set the two infant carriers on the ground.

_**"Come, Samantha,"**_ the Goa'uld demanded impatiently.

"Not yet," she replied as she bent to the closer of the two car seats. She flipped back the canopy screening the baby's sensitive skin from the sun. Sam's eyes swum with tears as she finally saw her child with her own eyes. Her hands were shaking so much it was difficult for her to unfasten the straps holding the baby secure. "Hey, J.D. It's Mommy," she whispered as she lifted the whimpering blue clad bundle from the seat. Sam tucked her son close to her chest as she offered him her finger to grab. J.D. immediately brought his small fist to his mouth. Sam was dimly aware of Admiral Chegwidden softly calling her name. When she looked up, she realized he held her daughter in his arms. She disengaged her finger from J.D.'s fist, and a moment later she held both of her children in her arms for the first time.

_**"This pitiful sentimentality will be the downfall of the Tau'ri,"**_ the Goa'uld sniggered.

"Possibly," Sam acknowledged as she bent her head to press a kiss to her daughter's head. "Or maybe it will be our salvation," she predicted.

Both Sam and the admiral stiffened as they heard the hum from the ribbon device on the Goa'uld's hand. _** "Enough delays,"**_ it said. _**"Come."**_

Sam took a deep shuddering breath as she nodded. She pressed one more kiss to the forehead of each of her children then handed Gina back to A.J. As she bent to place J.D. back in the carrier she said, "A.J., I need you to do something for me."

"Name it," Chegwidden answered immediately.

"Be executor of my will for Jack," she told him turning to look him in the eye. "I don't want Jack to have to do it."

A.J. nodded slowly. In his eyes she saw that he understood the real meaning of her request. She wasn't asking him to execute her last will and testament. She was asking him to execute her living will, the special one that read under no circumstances was she to be made a host. A.J. picked up the two infant seats and walked quickly away to the safety of the buildings.


	35. Chapter 35

Sam walked slowly towards the Goa'uld. "We do this in the Tok'ra fashion," she demanded. 

_**"With pleasure,"**_ the Goa'uld leered making Sam's skin crawl. As she stepped closer the Goa'uld loosened its grip on the President. _ **"Don't go too far, Mr. President,"**_ the Goa'uld warned before adding to Rivers,_** "Watch him." **_

Sam let the knife drop down into her hand as she stopped directly in front of the Goa'uld allowing her body to block it from Rivers' view as well as that of the Goa'uld. She stood so close that their chests nearly touched. Sam couldn't stop herself from tensing as the Goa'uld grabbed the hair at the nape of her neck to pull her head towards its own. 

_**"Open your mouth,"**_ it demanded then enforced that demand by grabbing hold of her lower jaw. It pried her mouth open with enough force to bring tears to her eyes. 

Sam gripped the handle of the knife more firmly. For this to work she would need every bit of her strength to bury the knife deeply enough into Rivera's skull to kill the Goa'uld, and not just strength would be required. She knew she'd need a great deal of luck and skill as well to make this work. Sam wasn't worried about the skill, but the luck was another matter. Just how many miracles could one woman expect to receive in one lifetime? And had she finally used up hers? Sam couldn't decide if it was terror or anger or just the rush of adrenaline that was causing the need to scream she felt building in her throat, but knowing Jack was waiting for some sort of signal, she decided it was as good as any. Just before Rivera's lips touched hers, Sam let the scream break free. At the same time she plunged the knife with all her strength into the soft flesh beneath his chin angling it upward putting the entire weight of her body into her attack. It was an awkward thrust, but through the research of Janet Frasier and her staff, Sam knew if the blade on the knife was long enough that the angle of her thrust would take out the Goa'uld as well as the host. The hand forcing her mouth open and the other pressed to the back of her neck suddenly went slack as the blade of her knife penetrated the host's brain.

As soon as she'd pressed the knife as deeply as it would go, Sam let go of its handle then jerked back desperately trying to put distance between herself and the dying Goa'uld host. Even as she did so, Sam knew she wasn't quick enough. She could feel the head of the snake forcing its way into her mouth and reacted instinctively. She grabbed the snake's body before it could fully enter her pitting herself against it in a tug of war for her own body. The Goa'uld's skin was slick with Alexandro Rivera's blood making it difficult for her to hold on to it. From the corner of her eye Sam saw zat fire hit Rivers. As he crumpled to the ground, Andrea Price grabbed the President and along with her two fellow agents began dragging him away to safety. Sam didn't have the luxury of time to feel relief for the President's safety though as she continued to fight the Goa'uld trying to enter her. She could see Jack running towards her.

From behind, Sam heard the sound of running feet just as her father shouted, "Take care of the Goa'uld, Teal'c." A moment later his arms came around her from behind and Teal'c's large hands wrapped around the body of the Goa'uld beside her own. "I've got you, Sammy" Jacob said quietly. Sam let go of the snake trusting to Teal'c's greater strength to free her. "Brace yourself," her father warned just before pain exploded through her as Teal'c attempted to pull the struggling Goa'uld from her mouth. As the pain continued to build at the back of her throat, Sam realized that the Goa'uld knew it would not survive this encounter and was intent on taking her with it or at least do as much damage as it could. 

The pain suddenly subsided though as Teal'c finally managed to pull the struggling snake away from her just as Jack reached them. Teal'c continued to fight with the doomed Goa'uld as Jack grabbed her knife from Rivera's body and ordered, "Pin it to the ground, Teal'c." As soon as the jaffa warrior had done so, Jack drove the knife through its body. Both men immediately backed away. As he did so, Jack drew the handgun olstered at his waist, took aim then very deliberately and with a great deal of satisfaction emptied the entire clip into the Goa'uld staked to the ground. He automatically returned the weapon to its holster before turning away from the Goa'uld and dropping to his knees beside his wife and father-in-law.

Sam didn't know how it happened, but she now realized that she was on the ground lying in her father's arms. Her father transferred her to Jack's embrace then slipped the healing device onto his hand. Sam felt the warmth on her face and throat as the healing device did its work. "Hold on, Sam" Jack told her. "That's an order. Do you hear me?" She opened her mouth to tell him just where he could stick his order, but all that came out was a choked gurgle. Sam's confusion mounted when Jack turned her so that she knelt doubled over facing the ground. It was only then that Sam realized the blood flowing from the wound in her mouth was keeping her from breathing and the panic set in. Needing an anchor to help her stay calm, she grabbed Jack's hand. "Can't you hurry it up, Jacob?" Jack demanded as he held Sam more tightly just in case she couldn't control her panic.

"This isn't exactly easy, Jack!" Jacob retorted without taking his concentration from the healing device on his hand. "The damn bastard did a lot of damage."

The braver and more curious of the agents and Marines were already coming forward to take a closer look at the thing pinned to the ground and the woman it had tried to invade. "Jesus," one of the younger Marines whispered. "She's choking to death on her own blood."

Jack growled menacingly as his head swiveled around in the direction from which the comment had come, but before he could rip into the young man, Admiral Chegwidden did it for him. "Belay that, Marine!" he barked in his most intimidating voice. The young man in question wasn't the only one to jump at the admiral's sharp words. He flushed red at momentarily being the center of attention then even brighter with shame when his gaze returned to the woman on the ground.

Sam squeezed Jack's hand again, but this time to reassure him and not herself. She could already feel the flow of blood in her mouth stopping and degree by degree the pain slowly easing away. There was silence as the crowd watched Sam's struggle to breath ease. Finally the glowing jewel at the center of the healing device on Jacob's palm dimmed. "That's it," Jacob said. "Try not to talk too much, Sam. You're still going to be sore until we can get you back to Thor to do the more delicate healing."

Sam immediately sat up when Jack loosened his hold on her now that the crisis was over. As she did so, she turned to glare at her husband. "Order?" she demanded in a hoarse whisper. Jack's eyebrows shot towards his hairline and color washed over his cheeks as he recognized the anger in her voice. Sam saw the realization on his face as well, but continued anyway. "I'm not your second in command anymore, Jack" she told him. "I'm your wife, and 'obey' was not part of the vows I took yesterday."

"Got it!" he assured her quickly.

"Geez, Jack" Daniel said as he approached them carrying one of the infant carriers. "Married less than 24 hours, and you're already fighting." Janet walked beside him carrying the other carrier, and beside her walked President Ryan while Harry and Bray'tac trailed along with the rest of the now released hostages. A few yards behind them, two agents escorted Senator Kinsey between them. 

"As I remember it, Danny boy, you and Sha're were fighting before you even knew you were married," Jack retorted.

"Point taken," Daniel conceded.

"Mr. President, that's close enough, please" Andrea commanded quietly from her place slightly behind and to the left of Ryan.

Ryan swiveled to look at his lead agent and saw her looking at the bloody mass on the ground. "I think it's dead, Andrea," Ryan assured her with a hint of dry amusement in his voice

"Can we be sure?" she argued doggedly.

"Teal'c, relieve Agent Price's mind," Jack ordered as he helped Sam to her feet. Teal'c tipped his head in acknowledgement then opened the zat he held in his hand. Immediately weapons all around were trained on him, but Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow then fired three times at the mutilated gua'uld body on the ground.

"Well, damn!" Tony Brentano sighed. "I suppose these are on loan too?" he asked Jacob.

"The Air Force has some of their own," Jacob told the newly appointed Secretary of Defense.

"A few," Daniel added.

"You just won't help us reverse engineer them," Sam accused her father as she lifted her daughter into her arms.

"If you can't figure it out on your own, you're not ready to have them," he argued.

"Ah ah ah," Jack objected as he bounced a crying J.D. in his arms. "J.D. doesn't like it when Mommy and Grandpa fight." 

"So what happens now?" President Ryan asked.

"Now, we leave," Jack answered.

"You could stay," Ryan urged. "Kinsey and the NID won't try this again."

"Yes they will," Sam disagreed.

Ryan wanted to argue that no one would dare try again, but then his eye fell on Jacob Carter cooing to his granddaughter and realized that barring catastrophic injury, Carter was likely to outlive not only his daughter, but his grandchildren as well. For a chance at the fountain of youth, there would always be someone willing to try no matter what the risk. The President nodded to O'Neill and his wife reluctantly agreeing with their assessment.

"The rest of you don't have to go. Your careers," Chegwidden suggested. He too realized that Jack and Sam would have to disappear for the safety of their children, but the others didn't have to abandon their lives as well. 

"I handed in my resignation the day we left for D.C." Janet admitted.

"Why?" A.J. gasped.

"Cassandra," Janet answered. "With Sam and the twins out of their reach, they'll go for her next."

"They never have before," A.J. pointed out.

"They never realized she could use Goa'uld technology before," Daniel told the older man. "When she helped the Abydonians, she changed that." As he spoke he moved to stand behind Janet settling his hands on her hips in an intimate fashion that left no doubt that where the petite doctor went so did he.

"I'll see you arrested for this, O'Neill!" Kinsey shouted struggling in the hold of the two agents. "You won't get away with this! Let me go!" he demanded. 

"We already have, Senator," Sam told him. "Dad, Teal'c, Bray'tac, and Daniel have diplomatic immunity as the representatives of their respective people."

"Who does Dr. Jackson represent? Disgraced archeologists everywhere?" Kinsey sneered.

"I represent the people of Abydos," Daniel informed him in all seriousness, "in trade negotiations for naquadah, and as my wife, that immunity extends to Janet as well." 

"Wife?" Jack asked. A hint of amusement warred with hurt in his voice as he asked.

Daniel blushed a bit as he admitted, "We had Thor take us to Vegas last night. We didn't want to wait."

"We are going to do it again properly though," Janet promised firmly.

Daniel nuzzled Janet neck as he murmured with a grin, "Yes, dear."

"You don't have immunity, O'Neill" Kinsey pointed out smugly. "Neither does Samantha. You may have gotten your brats back for now, but who'll protect them once you're in prison?" the senator asked.

Chegwidden snorted. "Please," he said. "A first year law student could get them off on temporary insanity."

It was obvious Kinsey was hoping to get a rise out of him. So obvious in fact, that Jack just smirked as he said, "Good luck serving the warrant, Senator."

"What does that mean?" Kinsey nearly growled.

"It means the universe is a very big place, and we've made a lot of friends out there," Sam explained with a smirk of her own.

"See ya, Senator," Daniel added. In his hand he held what looked like an elongated stone egg. "Time to go, Thor."

No one had time to try to interfere as the entire group that had invaded Camp David dissolved before their eyes leaving as they had come.


	36. Chapter 36

As he woke, Jack's right hand searched the place where he would normally find his wife but found it empty. He lifted his face from the pillow and propped himself up on one arm listening for some clue as to where Sam was. At first he expected to hear her in one of the two bedrooms across the hall that belonged to the twins, but then he realized the faint noise was coming from the kitchen downstairs. Having located his missing wife, Jack realized what she was up to and laid back down burying his face once more in the pillow enjoying the extra minutes in bed. He knew today would be busy. Late last night a radio transmission had come through the 'Gate from the Tok'ra letting them know to expect a visit from Jacob this afternoon. It had only been a few weeks since Jacob's last visit for the twin's second birthday, but Jack wasn't going to complain. They saw little enough of Jacob as it was. As Anubis continued to gain power, Jacob's position within the Tok'ra had risen simply through attrition. _'So much has changed in the last two years,'_ Jack thought.

Two years ago after they had transferred back to Thor's ship, Jacob had showed them the results of Cassie's shopping trip. Jacob had put her in charge of purchasing the last of the supplies they would need to build their new home. He and Sam had been grateful that someone had been thinking beyond getting the twins back. One look inside the hold of Thor's ship had told them Jacob and Daniel had been thinking a lot about it. The first thing his eyes had landed on was the couch from his own house. Jack had quickly realized that all of his belongings were there not just his furniture. There were piles of boxes neatly stacked in the hold. All clearly marked with labels like 'Jack's kitchen' and 'Sam's books.' The entire contents of the storage unit containing their belongings had simply been transferred to Thor's ship. A smaller pile of boxes contained the personal belongings the others had managed to retrieve from Colorado the night before. These personal belongings had occupied only a small portion of the large storage area, though. There were also boxes and boxes of supplies such as canned food, toilet paper, and medical supplies. Farther back in the ship's enormous hold, they had discovered just how much thought Jacob had put into this venture when Jack recognized something else. It was a log cabin kit like the one he'd used to build his cabin in Minnesota. Except this kit was much much bigger than his small fishing cabin. When asked, Jacob had revealed it was the biggest kit he could find since it was likely there would be at least six adults, a teenager, and two infants living there for some time to come. That wasn't how it turned out though.

Between them Jacob, Thor, Bray'tac and Teal'c had picked a hidden paradise for them. The planet had a working Stargate and was protected by the Asgard,. The indigenous population were at the technological equivalent of the late bronze age and confined to a continent other than the one upon which the Stargate was located. Thor had used his ship's weapons to clear a site for the cabin a few miles from the Stargate and a mile or so from a small lake. Using the Tok'ra tunneling crystals, Jacob had created the foundation for the cabin as well as a veritable warren of storage caverns and tunnels. Because an iris for the Stargate would have been impractical if not impossible to build, Jacob and Sam had rigged an alarm to the Stargate and concealed it in the DHD. The cabin's distance from the Stargate would give them a few minutes warning should unexpected visitors arrive. Thor had remained only long enough to transfer the mountain of supplies and equipment from his hold to the caverns. Though Jacob and Bray'tac had been unable to stay much longer than Thor before returning to their duties with the Tok'ra and the rebel jaffa. The morning after their arrival on this unnamed world, Daniel had hiked to the Stargate and returned a few hours later with volunteers from Abydos to help them assemble the outer shell of the cabin. All of the Earth refugees had been deeply touched by the willingness of the Abydonians to help them when they were still rebuilding from Anubis's attack. Because of Jack's experience in building his cabin in Minnesota and with so many to help, it had only taken them three days to raise the shell of the cabin. It was still fairly rough living compared to their life in Colorado but each of them had endured worse in the past. 

When the Abydos volunteers returned home, everyone had accompanied them for a visit feeling strongly that they needed to show their appreciation to the elders of Abydos in person. It was this visit that launched a final impromptu mission for SG-1. Anubis threatened another attack unless the Abydos people gave him the Eye of Ra. It was fairly obvious to anyone who had ever seen Star Wars, let alone the group who had survived Teal'c's obsession with it, that Anubis had no intention of leaving Abydos intact once he had the Eye. As a precaution, Sam, Janet and Cassandra had begun evacuating the Abydonians through the Stargate while Daniel and Skaa'ra had gone once again to the Asgard to beg for protection for Abydos. Teal'c and Jack had decided to attempt a more daring gambit. They made contact with the system lord Yu knowing how strongly he opposed Anubis. They offered him the Eye of Ra in exchange for including Abydos on the protected planets treaty. With Yu's backing the deal had been struck preventing Anubis from gaining the power of the Eye and protecting Abydos as well. As a final tidbit, Yu had revealed to Teal'c the charismatic leader of the jaffa rebels wasn't a jaffa at all but the Goa'uld Imhotep. That revelation took Teal'c away from them. After killing Imhotep in a personal challenge, there had been no one else to take charge of the disheartened rebels. When Teal'c had limped up to the cabin alone, Jack wasn't the only one to realize that Teal'c was leaving, but he was the one who stepped forward to wrap an arm around Teal'c's shoulders and take him aside for a quiet talk to reassure their friend they understood. Teal'c visited as often as he could now, mostly when the burdens of changing the entire jaffa society overwhelmed even his usually unflappable self-confidence. 

It was from Teal'c they learned the fate of Senator Kinsey and the NID. Unsurprisingly, Jacob's duties as representative of the Tok'ra brought him back to Earth first, but not long after Jacob's first visit, Teal'c also returned to negotiate aid for the rebel jaffa. General Hammond had told Teal'c about Kinsey's conviction the moment he'd stepped off the ramp in the embarkation room. On that trip he met personally with President Ryan. The President had asked Teal'c to carry a message back to them. It was safe to come home. To save himself from the electric chair, Kinsey rolled on the rest of the NID. The President was willing to offer his personal guarantee that they would be protected. Jack and Sam had considered the offer, but ultimately decided they weren't ready to return to Earth. Physically, their recovery from their imprisonment on Panersh was complete, but mentally and emotionally they both knew they had a long way to go. They also knew Earth wasn't the place for that healing to happen. They were wise enough to realize that on Earth, their retirement wasn't likely to last long. Something would happen and they would be called to the SGC just as Jack had been when Apophis first came through the 'Gate. And they would go just like they always had before because they felt that call to duty, except now the twins would pay for that devotion. Cassandra did want to return to Earth though. She wanted to resume her education and eventually join the Air Force. Unable to talk her out of it, Daniel and Janet decided to return with her. The President's message had promised them a return to their positions at the SGC. There they would be close enough to watch over Cassie without hovering. As head of the archaeology department, Daniel put himself in charge of the Abydos dig exploring the hidden treasure room where they'd found the Eye of Ra. Daniel also resumed his role on the council of elders on Abydos. This meant he and Janet spent a large portion of their downtime on Abydos instead of Earth. The SGC personnel on Abydos tacitly knew to turn a blind eye when Daniel and Janet disappeared in the evenings.

And so, ironically enough, Harry Maybourne was the last of those who had accompanied them to leave their sanctuary. Knowing they might be cut off from Earth totally, Jacob had included in his shopping list a somewhat large quantity of trade goods such as pots and pans, knives, bolts of cloth that ranged from fine silks to sturdy fleece, and cases of chocolate bars. At first they'd made small trades for fresh vegetables, meat, and cheeses with people on Cimmeria, Edora, and other worlds they knew to be safe. The barter kept Harry from becoming too bored. Sam and Jack took turns accompanying him on these trips partly because of Harry's lack of off-world experience and partly to keep an eye on their resident rogue. Soon enough Harry had convinced them to scale up their trading with the products of their own work. They continued to trade for meats and dairy products, but soon they had begun trading the excess harvest from their own garden instead of the more precious goods from Earth. Jacob had had the log cabin kit delivered to the site of Jack's cabin in Minnesota. So when Thor transported the kit aboard, Jacob also had him bring along Jack's fishing boat. With a quick tour through the cabin, Jacob had located all of Jack's fishing equipment and brought that along as well. So Jack spent at least one day a week fishing down at the lake now. Beside the dock he'd forced Harry to help him build, Jack had also built a large smokehouse he used to preserve the fish he caught. Some they ate, and some they traded. Even the thrill of the bargain began to pale for Harry after a few months, about the time Jacob came for one of his visits. When Jacob left two days later, Harry went with him to offer his more dubious skills to the Tok'ra. Knowing Harry and his schemes, Jack couldn't help but feel just a little bit sorry for both the Tok'ra and the Goa'uld.

With Harry gone, Jack and Sam had developed a routine. On the day Jack spent fishing, the twins stayed with Sam as she worked in the lab they'd set up for her in one of the lower caverns. Some days, Jack took them with him when he went to trade if it was a world he and Sam considered safe enough. There the twins could play with children their own age. Other days he worked in their garden or around the cabin while the twins played nearby. Sometimes, Sam joined them on their trips through the Stargate or working around the cabin, and sometimes she worked in her lab. Jack didn't mind playing Mr. Mom while Sam worked in the lab. In fact, he enjoyed it. He knew during their time on Panersh, she developed many new theories and plans to help keep her sanity and kept them all in her mind just as he had turned his mind to intelligence gathering. They had both known that keeping their minds active was vital to their emotional and mental if not their physical survival. Very little of that information had made it down into their precious notebook. Only the most vital pieces of information had been committed to paper. The rest existed only in their memories. Now Sam worked to put all that to paper, and so did he. In the evenings, it was Sam's turn to care for their children while Jack worked at the computer compiling information from his memory. With each visit to Abydos, Jack sent back more detailed reports of the information they'd gathered on Panersh along with his own analysis. Sometimes, Sam sent along reports of her own. In exchange, there were always parcels of supplies waiting for them. Officially it was a bright young rebel jaffa who sold various bits of technical information and intelligence to the SGC in exchange for supplies. Though how General Hammond explained why the most recent exchange included the new boxed set of 'Simpsons' episodes and Disney's animated 'Robin Hood' on DVD Jack couldn't guess. 

In the last couple weeks, Jack had gotten the feeling that Sam had something on her mind, and he was afraid he knew what it was. Two weeks ago when everyone had gathered for the twins' birthday, Janet and Daniel had announced that Cassandra would have a little brother or sister by Christmas. Over the next few days, Sam had been quiet working longer hours in the lab. He could hear Sam coming down the hall now. He could tell she was trying to be quiet, but quiet while trying to herd two toddlers was a relative matter. Jack played along though pretending to be asleep. He was glad the smile on his face was hidden by the pillow.

"Ready?" Sam whispered loudly. It was obvious to Jack she knew he was already awake. He hadn't gotten that soft that he would sleep through as much noise as she was making. Jack heard giggles from the side of the bed. "One, two, three" she whispered.

"Happy Father's Day!" Sam yelled along with the twins. 

Jack rolled over and opened his eyes to see his wife standing beside the bed with the twins. Sam held a breakfast tray in her hands, and between them the children held a brightly wrapped package. "Wow, guys!" Jack said. "You really surprised me." He reached down and took the package from the twins before they lost hold and dropped it. Relieved of their burden, the two children scrambled onto the bed beside him. Both children had inherited their parents' natural athletic ability and a healthy dose of curiosity. Keeping up with them kept both Sam and Jack on their toes at times. 

"Give Daddy your present," Sam suggested. 

Immediately Jack was forced to fend off the present eagerly thrust at his face by his offspring. In self-defense, Jack grabbed it. "Thanks guys," he said after unwrapping the package to reveal the picture of the twins framed by a mat on which four little handprints had been stamped. "So what did your mommy get me?" he whispered conspiratorially to J.D. and Gina loud enough for Sam to hear.

"Mommy got you Grandpa Jake to come visit," Sam told him. 

"Sam, I love your dad, but come on!" Jack protested.

Sam handed him the breakfast tray and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Grandpa Jake's taking the kids to visit Uncle Daniel and Aunt Janet on Abydos this afternoon. He's keeping them overnight."

"I like that present," Jack purred lifting his hand to caress her cheek.

Sam let him pull her closer for a lingering kiss while the twins watched and giggled. When the kiss ended, Sam straightened and with a chuckle said, "Eat your breakfast, Jack, while I get the kids dressed."

As Jack stepped out of the shower almost an hour later, he heard the squeals of delight from J.D. and Gina signaling that Jacob had arrived. Coming out of the master bathroom freshly shaved a few minutes later, he found Sam waiting for him sitting on their bed. "Dad's watching the kids," she said. "Can we talk for a minute?"

He nodded as he settled onto the bed beside her. "You want to go back to Earth," Jack guessed.

"What? No," Sam denied. "Why would you think that?"

"You've been quiet lately," he told her. "Since Janet and Daniel made their announcement. I figured maybe you'd started thinking about going back to Earth so we could be there for them. The twins would have a playmate." There had been many nights over the last two years, sitting up after the twins were put to bed when they talked about the future and whether they'd made the right decision for the twins in taking them off-world. Sam and Jack enjoyed this quiet life they'd made here, but what if J.D. and Gina wanted a different life? An entire world of possibilities was rapidly closing for the twins. A two or even three year old could be expected to rapidly forget about this life, and even if they spoke of it, it would be taken as nothing more than the active imaginations of young children. If they wanted to return to Earth, the decision would have to be made soon.

"I don't want to take the twins back to Earth," Sam assured him. "They have playmates on Abydos, the Land of the Light, Cimmeria and lots of other places. Janet's announcement did get me thinking though, or counting rather."

"Counting?" Jack asked.

"I would like more contact with Earth though, " Sam continued as if she hadn't heard the question though she answered it anyway next with both her words and actions. "This time around," she said taking his hand in hers and moving it to her lower abdomen, "I want pre-natal vitamins and check-ups. I want to be able to indulge my cravings even if you do have to go all the way to Earth to get me dill pickles and Ben and Jerry's at two in the morning," Sam continued as Jack laughed. He wrapped his free arm around her pulling her into a tight hug and the hand she'd placed on her stomach lightly caressed her. "And most of all when the time comes, I want to be in a hospital with doctors and nurses and most important of all, an epidural," she explained.

Pulling back slightly Jack demanded, "Are you sure?"

Sam pulled the little white plastic stick from where she had tucked it in the rumpled sheets on the bed. Holding it up clearly revealed the plus sign. "We're having a baby," she confirmed. "I asked Janet to send me the kit when they were here. Dad brought it today." She beamed a mega-watt smile at him. "Happy Father's Day, Jack."


End file.
